|
|
|
|
August 2007 Page 1
Enjoy !!
No.
CalCel TN 8072
From my understanding, these are not terribly
common specimens, and this piece is certainly one of finest I've seen
for overall aesthetics and quality. The specimen is comprised of a pair
of beautiful light golden color, gemmy scalenohedra of Calcite sitting
atop a colorless, prismatic gemmy Celestine crystal. Though this quarry
is well known for its Fluorite specimens, one does not see many of these
Calcite/Celestine combination specimens on the market these days. A
great midwestern classic association specimen. Locality: Clay Center, Ottawa County, Ohio. Specimen Size: 3.8 x 1.7 x 0.9 cm.
No. CalCel TN 8071 From my understanding, these are not terribly common specimens, and
this piece is certainly one of finest I've seen for overall aesthetics
and quality. The specimen is comprised of about a dozen beautiful light
golden color, gemmy scalenohedra of Calcite sitting atop two colorless,
prismatic gemmy Celestine crystals. Though this quarry is well known for
its Fluorite specimens, one does not see many of these Calcite/Celestine
combination specimens on the market these days. A great midwestern
classic association specimen. Locality: Clay Center, Ottawa County, Ohio. Specimen Size: 3.5 x 2.3 x 1.3 cm.
No.
CalCh TN 8071 These Calcite specimens are well
known for their attractive basal scalenohedra or "barrel"-shaped
crystals (many are also tabular in habit), and this is truly the only
thumbnail specimen of this material that I've seen period. When these
specimens first came out, they instantly reminded me of the old classic
Calcites from St. Andreasberg, Germany as they were very similar in
habit, luster, color and gemminess. They even have "white caps" like
many of the St. Andreasberg pieces I have seen. It seems that these
specimens have quickly disappeared from the market in recent years and I
believe any Chinese collection or any Calcite collection needs one of
these specimens because they are very distinctive and attractive. A very
fairly priced thumbnail of this beautiful material. Locality: Fozichong (Fuzichong) Orefield, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region, China. Specimen Size: 3.8 x 1.7 x 0.9 cm.
No. Laz TN 8071 Some of the finest, highly sought after, and best known specimens of this material come from this locality. The area around Rapid Creek is only accessible for a few months in the summer for collecting (it's under snow and ice the rest of the year), and it is some of the most treacherous terrain in the world for collecting specimens. This specimen is a great display piece featuring a few, superb quality, sharp, highly lustrous, very well formed, monoclinic, deep inky blue color crystals of Lazultie associated with brown Siderite rhombs and small gemmy Quartz crystals on matrix. This piece is obviously bigger than a thumbnail, but it was included in the lot because I think it could easily be trimmed down to create a very aesthetic thumbnail specimen if somebody has the gumption to give it a shot. Locality: Rapid Creek, Yukon Territory, Canada. Specimen Size: 6.2 x 2.5 x 1.7 cm.
No.
Nat TN 8071 This is absolutely one of the finest quality Natrolite crystals I've
seen from any world locality. I've seen some impressive Natrolite
crystals with great areas from Bound Brook, New Jersey, but never have I
seen one that is SO water-clear with amazingly glassy faces. There may
be larger Natrolites from other localities, but one would be hard
pressed to find another Natrolite from any locale with THIS quality. Not
that I would ever condone such an act, but this crystal would possibly
yield one of the largest clean Natrolite gems extant. A truly superb
crystal of this somewhat rare Zeolite species. Locality: Poudrette quarry (Demix quarry), Mont Saint-Hilaire,
Rouville County, Quebec, Canada Specimen Size: 3.9 x 0.8 x 0.3 cm.
No. FL SH TN 8071 A great oversized thumbnail of this classic material from the great Rainbow Pocket at the famous Sweet Home mine. This mine is near and dear to my heart as my father owned and operated it for a few years in the late 1970s. This little gem is composed of several gemmy, sharp, lustrous, lilac colored "phantom" Fluorite cubes which are sitting atop (some are pierced right through !) gem quality "needle" Quartz crystals. There is a minor association of Pyrite and Tetrahedrite on the piece as well. We all think this is a "cute" specimen, and now that the Sweet Home has been completely sealed up, you will not see many of these pieces available for purchase in the coming years. The piece carries a Collector's Edge number on the base of "SH 962". Locality: Rainbow Pocket, Tetrahedrite stope, Sweet Home mine, near Alma, Park County, Colorado. Specimen Size: 3.5 x 3.1 x 2.0 cm.
No.
Amaz TN 8071 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 very sharp, lustrous, rich blue green color
Amazonite crystal that is complete on all sides. The color is nearly as
good as it gets for Amazonite, and the crystal itself is actually
translucent around the edges! This specimen was collected by the late
George Fisher, a very prominant field collector of Amazonite specimens
in Colorado for years. Locality: Pike's Peak area, Park County, Colorado Specimen Size: 3.3 x 2.5 x 2.2 cm.
No. Sphal IN TN 8071 It is a real treat to see such a fine matrix Sphalerite specimen from this locality. This quarry is best known for its distinctive golden scalenohedral Calcite specimens, but Sphalerites are few and far between, especially in attractive display specimens such as this. The piece features a wonderful, sharp, lustrous. black crystal cluster of Sphalerite aesthetically sitting on matrix. The piece is not a thumbnail, but believe it could easily be trimmed down to create a superb competition-quality thumbnail if one so desired. The piece is just as impressive as a miniature, and is one of the best specimens in this size range that I have had to offer. Locality: Berry Materials Corp. Quarry, North Vernon, Jennings County, Indiana Specimen Size: 5.5 x 3.5 x 2.5 cm.
No. Preh TN 8071 This new find of greenish yellow Prehnites has really made an impression on me because they are some of the finest quality crystallized Prehnites that I have encountered in a long time. The combination of rich vibrant color along with wonderfully gemmy lustrous crystallization puts them in the upper ranks for quality of any Prehnite specimens around. These specimens are from the same mines that produce the world famous gem Tanzanite crystals in Tanzania. This piece is one of the few matrix Prehnites that I've seen from this locality featuring beautiful, lustrous, gemmy, greenish yellow "clamshell"-shaped crystals forming a spherical crystal aggregate aesthetically sitting atop a gemmy colorless Quartz crystal fragment. The Prehnite itself is virtually undamaged and the color is actually more vibrant in person than the photos might indicate. The piece could easily be trimmed down to create a "box buster" thumbnail. Locality: Block C, Merelani Mines, Umba Valley, Lelatema Mountains, Arusha Region, Tanzania Specimen Size: 3.5 x 2.7 x 2.0 cm.
No.
Andr TN 8071 I remember when these specimens came out around 10 years ago and they
truly disappeared as quickly as they arrived on the market. This piece
is one of the better thumbnail specimens of this material to come out,
as most pieces feature one or two crystals, and they were typically only
a few millimeters in size. The crystals on this specimen are
dodecahedrons with trapezohedral modifications and have a very deep
brownish-red color with excellent luster and sharpness. The piece
displays well from one side showing almost no damage. You will not find
many of these specimens around anymore, and I think any Garnet collector
would love to add a locality specimen like this to their collection. Locality: Sokolovskii mine, Kazakhstan Specimen Size: 3.0 x 2.5 x 2.2 cm.
No.
Gal TN 8071 A striking and rather dramatic large thumbnail size specimen
comprised of steel-grey cubic Galena crystals with minor octahedral
modifications and unique epitaxial overgroths of additional
cuboctahedral Galena crystals all of which are associated with minor
reddish-brown Sphalerite on matrix. The large crystal at the top of the
specimen is complete all the way around and virtually undamaged. This
district has produced some of the most prolific Galena specimens in the
world, and the value of these specimens has steadily been on the rise in
recent years. A piece like this would be very difficult to replace at
any price due to the unique crystals and aesthetic orientation. Locality: Picher Field, Tri-State District, Ottawa County, Oklahoma Specimen Size: 3.5 x 2.2 x 1.7 cm.
|
|
|
Home |
Search |
About Us |
Order |
Links |
©2006 Brian R. Kosnar "Mineral Classics" - P. O. Box 2, Black Hawk, CO 80422
|
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)