Thumbnail
Mix
November 2007
No. CuMI TN 8071
Copper - $850
With the thousands of specimens to come out of, how often does one encounter a
competition quality Copper thumbnail of this material? I've honestly searched for a specimen like this from
Michigan for years, and this is the finest one I have had to offer. It features a very aesthetic, well-formed, well-defined, sharp
dodecahedron of Copper with a classic patina on a small mound of matrix. The crystal is complete all the way around to boot.
This pieces leaves nothing to be desired, and would make virtually any thumbnail collector happy to own. A fantastic
thumbnail display specimen.
Locality: Phoenix mine, Keweenaw County, Michigan
Specimen Size: 2.2 x 1.8 x 0.9 cm.
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No. Stil CO TN 8071
Stilbite - $95
Yes, Stilbite from an iron mine! The Calumet mine dates back to the
1880's and produced nearly 230,000 tons of iron ore over the course of
its life. Most collectors are probably familiar with the classic Epidote
specimens from this mine, but few people know about the attractive
Stilbite specimens that came from Calumet. This piece is comprised of
several tan colored Stilbite blades on minor matrix. Obviously they are
no comparison to India or New Jersey in terms of size and quality, but
these are very good for Calumet, and would make a fine addition to any
Colorado collection.
Locality: Calumet mine, Turret District, Chaffee County, Colorado
Specimen Size: 2.3 x 2.0 x 1.5 cm.
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No.
Goe TN 8071
Goethite with "Onegite" - $150
The various pegmatites surrounding the Pike's Peak area in
Colorado are most famous for their world-class Amazonite specimens, but
they do not receive nearly enough recognition for producing some of the
finest Goethite specimens extant. This highly aesthetic "spray" of
semi-metallic, silvery-black colored Goethite crystals is easily one of
the most attractive thumbnails of this material that I have seen. The
crystals are accented with classic "Onegite" crystals which are
essentially Amethyst crystals with Goethite inclusions. Some of the "Onegite"
crystals are actually Smoky Quartz, but you can see a distinct purple
color in others. A great example of a classic, top quality Goethite from
this prolific mineral-producing region in Colorado.
Locality: The Planetarium Pocket, 9-2000, Dreamtime Claim,
Teller County, Colorado
Specimen Size; 2.1 x 1.8 x 1.8 cm.
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No.
Gold CO TN 8071
Gold - $550The Dixie mine is probably the most famous Gold mine in Clear
Creek County for mineral collectors. My father actually owned and
operated this mine for a short time in the 1970's. As far as Gold goes,
Dixie mine specimens are among the easiest to recognize from Colorado.
This piece is comprised of classic platy "leaves" of bright colored Gold
forming a very charming and three-dimensional display specimen. The
individual "leaves" have crystalline faces which is often seen in
specimens from the Dixie. Fine quality specimens, (even the smaller
ones) are highly prized by Colorado collectors. This is a very good
Dixie thumbnail, and would make a wonderful addition to any thumbnail
suite or Gold collection.
Locality: Dixie mine, Idaho Springs, Clear Creek County, Colorado
Specimen Size: 1.9 x 1.7 x 1.0 cm.
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No. QtzRh TN 8071
Quartz on Rhodochrosite - $155
Here we have a classic association of Quartz with Rhodochrosite from
the Sunnyside mine. The Quartz crystals are unusually stubby for this
locality, and are virtually water-clear at the tips. They have razor
sharp faces with equally impressive reflective luster. The final touch
to this piece is the small pink rhombohedra of Rhodochrosite at the
base. A great quality thumbnail of this well known material.
Locality: Sunnyside mine, near Gladstone, San Juan County, Colorado
Specimen Size: 2.4 x 2.1 x 1.7 cm.
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No.
Sphal CO TN 8073
Sphalerite on Chalcopyrite - $275
The Commodore mine has produced some of the most colorful and
attractive Sphalerite specimens in all of Colorado, or the United States
for that matter. These specimens were all over the market 30 years ago,
and now they are highly prized and highly sought after by Colorado
collectors. My brother has cut some of the most vivid and sparkling
gemstones from broken Sphalerite crystals that came out of the Commodore
and they have always sold the second he puts them out for sale. I can
only think of a few world localities that produce/produced such superb
gemmy Sphalerite crystals in any quantity over the last 50 years, and
the specimens from Creede truly are classics. This specimen features
dramatic, complexly crystallized/twinned, sharp, lustrous, multi color
(green, gold and orange) crystals surrounding a golden Chalcopyrite
crystal. When the Sphalerite is backlit, it shows rich color and is
clearly gemmy enough to facet superb quality gems. Do not miss out on
this historic and flashy Colorado Sphalerite.
Locality: Emperious vein, Commodore mine, Creede, Mineral
County, Colorado
Specimen Size: 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.2 cm.
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No.
Ameth TN 8071
Amethyst - $115This was not a particularly well
known or large find, but I remember when these pieces hit the market
years ago. This is honestly the best thumbnail from this find that I
have seen, although there may be others. The Amethyst crystal is
pristine with a light lilac color and razor sharp faces aesthetically
flaring off matrix. If you're a Colorado collector, this would make a
great addition to any collection for the unique locality.
Locality: Biedell Gulch, Colorado
Specimen Size: 2.5 x 2.2 x 1.3 cm.
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No.
Pold TN
8071
Olmiite - $1200
From the significant find from around 2001, this piece is one of
the best thumbnail size specimens of this amazing material that I have
seen. Before this discovery, Olmiite was often known as opaque,
cream-colored aggregates, and the new discovery yielded incredibly
gemmy, rich orange-red color specimens. This full-size thumbnail
specimen features a remarkably rich orange-red color, gemmy, lustrous,
spherical aggregate associated with a smaller peach-colored aggregate of
equal quality on matrix. The piece displays very well, and truly is as
fine of quality as I have seen for the species. It seems as though these
specimens have disappeared from the market rather quickly, and after my
recent trips to Munich and Tucson, this piece is very competitively priced compared
to many inferior specimens that were available for sale at the show.
Locality: N'Chwaning I mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields,
Northern Cape Province, South Africa
Specimen Size: 3.0 x 2.1 x 1.5 cm.
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No. Amaz TN 8076
Microcline (var: "Amazonite") - $115
Simply put, the finest Amazonite crystals in the world are found in
around the Pike's Peak Batholith. The area has continued to produce fine
quality crystals for the better part of a century. Here we have a
wonderful cluster of prismatic, blue green color Amazonite crystals
which are complete on all sides. It was found in the 1990's at the well
known Qui-Buc Claims which produced some very good quality Amazonites
for a short time. A lovely thumbnail of this well known material.
Locality: Qui-Buc No. 1 Claim, Park County, Colorado
Specimen Size: 2.8 x 2.2 x 1.6 cm.
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No.
Gal TN 8072
Galena - $75A wonderful old classic Galena with attractive cuboctahedral
form. I think it is interesting to see the selectivity of the
modifications as they do not occur on every corner of the cube, but
actually alternate from corner to corner. It is amazing to think how
many Leadville specimens were on the market as recently as 10 years ago
(my father literally had thousands of them), and now they are becoming
increasingly difficult to obtain. This piece would fit very well into a
Leadville suite, a worldwide Galena collection, or any thumbnail
collection.
Locality: Black Cloud Mine, Iowa Gulch, Leadville, Lake County,
Colorado.
Specimen Size: 2.6 x 1.8 x 1.6 cm.
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No.
Cu NM TN 8071
Copper - $140
A very dramatic and bright Copper crystal group featuring
multi-layered Spinel-law twinning and small dodecahedral crystals in
between the arborescent "branches". It appears that somebody decided to
brighten this piece up and remove the natural patina. Nonetheless, it is
a highly aesthetic specimen and completely crystallized all the way
around. With so many Chino pieces that have come out in recent years, I
think this one truly stands out due to its obvious visual appeal.
Locality: Chino Mine, Santa Rita, Santa Rita District, Grant
Co., New Mexico
Specimen Size: 2.4 x 2.4 x 1.4 cm.
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No.
Epi Ken TN 8071
Epidote (pseudo hexagonal) - $265
These Kenyan Epidotes started showing up on the market around
2002, and they almost disappeared as quickly as they arrived. They are
superb quality crystals from any locality, but definitely attracted more
attention because they came from Kenya. Even though many of the crystals
from this find were very good sized, not all of them were the finest
quality. This piece is one of the best quality crystals I've seen from
this find from the standpoint of sharpness and luster. The main crystal
has a very interesting pseudo hexagonal termination like a Tourmaline,
which is very unusual in my experience. When the piece is strongly
backlit, you can see a small zone of the deepest, richest vanadium green
color possible for an Epidote. Epidote is one of my favorite minerals,
and if you're a fan of these specimens, I think this piece is a great
buy for the size and quality.
Locality: Northern Frontier District, Kenya
Specimen Size: 2.9 x 1.6 x 0.9 cm.
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No.
Caf Sui TN 8071
Cafarsite - $1500
One of the holy grails of Alpine minerals ! As many of you
know I'm a huge fan of Alpine and "Alpine-type" minerals along with
being a huge fan of "black" minerals, so this species is a great
combination of two of my passions. For years, I have searched for a
superb Cafarsite specimen (of ANY size) from the Alps, but they are few
and far between, even in mediocre specimens. This species, like a few
other Arsenides found in this region (i.e., Asbecasite, Fetiasite) gets
its name from this chemical composition. This species is only found at
few localities worldwide, all but one of them being in the Swiss and
Italian Alps. This particular piece is a highly aesthetic and impressive
thumbnail of Cafarsite featuring a complete, isolated, relatively large,
sharp, cuboctahedron sitting on a bit of Alpine granite matrix. I would
say there are only a handful of DECENT Cafarsites found each year at
Scherbadung, and it seems like all Alpine specimens, the pieces from
Switzerland command a higher price across the board than their Italian,
Austrian and French counterparts. If you're a serious collector, this is
a big deal from the standpoint of rarity, crystal size, and aesthetics
from such a prominent locality.
Locality: Wannigletscher, Scherbadung, (Cervandone on the
Italian side), Kriegalp Valley, Binntal, Kanton Wallis (Valais),
Switzerland
Specimen Size: 2.5 x 2.1 x 1.7 cm.
Cafarsite Crystal: 1.5 cm.
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No.
Amaz Eth TN 8071
Microcline (var: "Amazonite") - $45
Fine Amazonite crystals are only known from a few world localities,
but recently Ethiopia has added its name to the ranks of some of the
best specimens around. The color of this crystal is just about as rich
and dark as you'll find in an Amazonite from any locality. It is
certainly darker than about 95% of the Amazonite found in Colorado. The
crystal is complete all the way around with rather lustrous faces and a
bladed crystal group of Albite (var: "Cleavelandite") on the side. The
crystal is also translucent (almost gemmy) around the edges as well. If
this crystal were from Colorado, you can be sure that the price could be
two to three times higher.
Locality: Konso Region, Sidamo Province, Ethiopia
Specimen Size: 2.6 x 2.0 x 1.7 cm.
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No. Lab TN 8071
Anorthite (var: "Labradorite") (var: "Sunstone") -
$65
The Dust Devil mine is best known for producing amazing gem quality
Sunstone occurring in a beautiful range of colors. I have been told that
this material is Labradorite, which is one of the intermediate members
of the Albite-Anorthite Plagioclase Feldspar series. The large
percentage of the material from Oregon is found as broken crystal shards
and typically has a light "champagne" hue. Euhedral crystals of this
material are very rare in my experience. I actually pulled this piece
from a parcel of gem rough, saving it from the gruesome fate of being
forever destroyed for the sake of cutting a gem. It is not a complete
crystal, but it does show good crystal form with defined striations on
the "b" faces of the crystal. It is nearly 100% gem quality, and would
make a great addition to any Feldspar suite, a collection of gem
crystals (especially U.S. gem crystals), or any thumbnail collection.
Locality: Dust Devil mine, Plush, Lake County, Oregon
Specimen Size: 2.4 x 1.0 x 0.6 cm.
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