Amethyst
stock #7.AE-212
Irai, Alto Urugual region
Rio Grande do Sul, South Region,
Brazil
12 x 9 CM (cabinet)
price: $350
Two perfect radiating clusters (suns) joined together in an impressive and esthetic piece of glass-like Quartz. No damage at all, a fine purple hue that grades to a clear outer edge the piece is fully transparent and glows with even a hint of backlight. Not the typical quality, this is a fine mineral specimen for a fine collection.
Fluorite (large frosted octahedron)
stock #7.AE-134
Huayllapon Mine, Pasto Bueno District
Pallasca Province, Ancash Department,
Peru
12.8 x 8.8 CM (cabinet)
price: $650
A large and fine single octahedron of mint green Fluorite with the very desirable "stipple faced" or melted look on the crystal faces. This Alpine Fluorite is sizable and impressive from a location that has not produced good material for many years. Pasto Bueno Fluorites are quite highly regarded, and and also rather distinctive. This one is in fine shape on the display side but it is cleaved where it was removed on the underside. Displays very well and a bargain for such a large crystal.
Triphane (Spodumene) Large Gem crystal
stock #7.AE-305
Khauraz
Laghman Province,
Afghanistan
33.8CM X 4.6CM X 2.6 CM Thick (cabinet /museum)
price: $4500
A HUGE and impressive monster that is doubly terminated, top gem grade yellow triphane. Sharp, glassy luster and damage-free with only some tiny bits of matrix adhering to the main prism which is over a foot long! One end has the classic hackley/fibrous termination while the other shows a staggered pair of prismatic tips with some fine growth hillocks. This crystal like all fine gem Spodumene is highly dichroic and shows an excellent orange-pink transition on the C axis. The piece has been in a private collection for several years and the color (unlike many) is quite stable. Good Triphane has never been plentiful. This one seems to have been from the major find of 99-2000 and I have not seen much new material available over the past few years, and none as large and fine as this. I consider this a very fine display piece that is both reasonably priced and will likely have outstanding investment value.
Rutile
stock #7.AE-211
Graves Mt., Lincoln Co.
Georgia,
United States
6.8 x 5.4 s 5.0 CM (cabinet)
price: $375
A big, doubly-terminated crystal from Americas great Rutile locale, Graves Mt. This shows two distinctly different termination forms and has good luster. There are substantial contacts on the piece some with minor Muscovite (a common occurrence here) in the faces, but the large size and unusual form are what makes this piece a good one.
Azurite
stock #7.AE-117
Copper Queen Mine , Bisbee, Cochise County
Arizona,
United States
10x10x 4.8 CM (cabinet)
price: $4000
A superb, classic locality piece with fantastic esthetics and rich color. This is essentially all Azurite with a tiny bit of malachite on the reverse side, and numerous micro crystals several of the classic species the locality is famous for. This specimen is composed of well-crystallized Azurite in several habits up to 1 CM in size. This stands without aid and is very 3-dimensional. The condition is exceptional as this example is clearly very old, likely from the heyday of the mine in the later 1800's. Rare to find in this condition and quality!
From another classic locale this older miniature has well formed orthohombic crystals in an esthetic and oriented arrangement. These mines are long closed and have produced some of the best Sulpher ever found. This is a good example of the crystal form that made this location famous and is affordable compared to most.
Bournonite
stock #6.2-893
Yaogangxian Mine, Yizhang County, Chenzhou Pref.
Hunan Province,
China
3.5x3 CM (small miniature)
price: $160
Very bright, metalic and with fine luster, this bournonite miniature shows excellent form with a pleasing contast to the matrix. Much better than usual condition for this delicate, brittle mineral, however there is some chipping and contacting like all of these have. The main crystal shows a fantastic cogswheel form. Since well crystalized Bournonite is very uncommon, the better Chinese examples are already becoming classics. For now, this is a bargain!
A pre-1930's piece from the classic location of Bad Ems, best known for fine pyromorphites. This is a sharp, glassy cerussite with only minor edge chipping. It is rare to see minerals of this quality available from these old European locations.
