Leonite - Vintage German
stock #20.1-740
Neuhof-Ellers, Neuhof, Fuida, Kassel Region
Hesse,
Germany
2.7 x 1.9 x 1.6 CM (thumbnail)
price: $160
A classic old style thumbnail that comes with vintage label and the glass tube type thumbnail container in common use over 100 years ago. Leonite is a fairly rare Hydrated Potassium Magnesium Sulfate first described in 1896. Crystals on this small piece are up to 1.3 CM and are a good example of the specie. These may be pseudomorphs after Picromerite since many specimens from German localities are. Nice vintage specimen of a specie not often seen on the market.
SOLD Sphalerite - gem crystal on Quartz
stock #SOLD 24.1-158
Empire State #4 Mine, 3900 foot level, Balmat, St. Lawrence County
New York,
United States
3.5 x 2.7x 2.2 CM (thumbnail)
price: $0
A killer thumbnail with a flawless gem clear Sphalerite twin perched on contrasting Quartz crystals. From the incredible new find of these Sphalerites at Balmat, New York in the #4 Mine at 3900 feet down. There were quite a number of nice thumbnails in the find, but just a few of this quality and esthetics, most were very quickly snapped up. Certainly destined to be classics, the better specimens from this locality are modern mineral treasures. Bright glassy luster, yellow-orange color and perfect clarity.
Sharp, perfectly formed and doubly terminated main crystal with no matrix, only a few smaller crystals and a tiny fleck of Mica are attached. A classic Maine specimen from the famed Bennett Quarry, the crystal has an unidentified thin chocolate brown skin on most of the faces. In a few spots the coating is gone and the crystal seen below is gem clear and colorless. It seems to be a simple job to remove this coating, but it may be one of the more rare Phosphates so it should stay until identified. This is an excellent specimen from this locale and with the color coating very unusual too.
SOLDSpinel on Marble- classic Mogog red
stock #SOLD 24.1-181
Pein Pyit, Mogok, Pyin-Oo-Lwin District
Mandalay Division,
Myanmar (Burma)
3.1 x 2.4 x 2.2 CM (thumbnail)
price: $0
A single bright red crystal of Spinel sits on a small mass of pure white Marble. The form is a modified octahedron and is undamaged, complete and presents well. This is classic Mogok material, the crystal is vividly fluorescent and displays well from all sides. This is a small and affordable version of the top larger Spinels that are known from here which typically sell at incredibly high prices.
Small but well-formed scalenohedral crystals with good pink-red color form a druse on matrix. I have never seen another Rhodochrosite from this locality but it is listed as a specie found there by Mindat, though there are no photos of examples. The mines in this site are quite sizable and produce Barite as well as Lead and Zinc. Several Manganese minerals are noted as well. We can not find any published examples from this mine and only two examples from all of Arnsberg are on Mindat, so it is safe to say it is a fairly rare occurrence. A nice thumbnail and a good addition to a German collection or a Rhodochrosite suite.
Grossular - Raspberry Garnet, older find
stock #23.1-728
Sierra de la Cruz, Municipio de Sierra Mojada
Coahuila,
Mexico
1.7 x 1.3 x 1 CM (thumbnail)
price: $380
Pre Tucson
A small thumbnail with big color, a cluster of the Raspberry Garnets from Sierra de las Cruces (Coahuila, Mexico). This is from the Larry White collection, it has almost no matrix and is just bright red Garnets with very nice luster and in very good condition. Larry obtained this in 2000 from NE Geological Supply at the Springfield show. This would have been the earlier find of this type of more vivid Garnets which were very exciting at that show. Larry had excellent taste and though small this is a choice thumbnail!
SOLD Apatite (purple) - rare locality
stock #SOLD 22.1-488
Chas de Tavares, Mangualde
Viseu,
Portugal
1.2 x 1 x .8 CM (thumbnail)
price: $0
Pre Tucson
A sharp, glass and bright purple Apatite crystal from a very little known locality, found in 2012. Ex Alain Martaud collection this is in excellent condition and shows zoning with the more vivid purple color near the bottom of the crystal and when viewed through the termination the very center has a colorless zone in the core. Portugal is one of the world’s great sources of fine Apatite from the famed Panasqueira Mine, but this locality is over 125 KM to the west and the region has a very complex and different type of mineralogy. Very few of the Apatites from here are purple and most are a lot smaller, this is superb for the locality.
A small cluster of bright pink Tourmalines with good translucency and gem transparent sections. This has sharp edges, well-formed striations and flat terminations in excellent condition. Any such specimens from this locality are very rare and any good ones like this are simply never seen on the market. This is mounted on a 19th century style turned wooden base. Certainly the best specimen I have seen from this locality but honestly I have seen very few others, and none ever outside of museum collections.
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