NEW YEARS' UPDATE GOLD & SILVER specimens, and a few others

NEW YEARS' UPDATE

GOLD & SILVER specimens, and a few others

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page 1 / 3 - 31 specimens selected - next - bottom - back to the Galleries

AGAU-40 - Acanthite - $ 1250
Kings Mine, Kongsberg District, Buskerud, Norway
miniature, 4.5 x 3.7 x 2.1 cm

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An important locality piece, with a large (1cm-plus) acanthite cube on massive acanthite, all perched on matrix. This is from the classic Norway locale , and probably is 100 years old. It was in the Paul Sainfeld collection and then the Eric Asselborn Collection via the jean Behier collection

AGAU-39 - Acanthite - $ 2400
Chanarcillo, Chile
miniature, 3.5 x 3.4 x 2.5 cm

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ex. Scalisi collection

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A gorgeous, lustrous, complex crystal cluster of acanthite forming a machinelike aggregate. It is complete all around! This historic specimen would have come out in the late 1800s or early 1900s. It comes with an old Scalisi Collection label, noting it is from the Freiberg Museum. Superb, old classic!

AGAU-38 - Acanthite on Calcite - $ 4500
Monte Narba, Sardinia, Italy
miniature, 5.1 x 3.2 x 2.9 cm

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ex. Harvard University

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A remarkable, historic locality piece from the early to mid 1800s, this is a large, fat acanthite crystal perched on a pedestal of calcite. This is a superb crystal for the locality, and a very displayable specimen overall. It is a trim from a famous Karabacek (1878-1963) specimen long in Harvard Univeristy, though has much changed in form as it was physically trimmed down to an elegant miniature and cleaned properly. For more on the Karabacek Collection, see the Min Record archives http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=316. The original specimen which was apportioned into several pieces (by the previous owner) is shown here as posted on MinDat: http://www.mindat.org/photo-215994.html. Elegant and fine, this is a superb locality specimen and an important piece

AGAU-36 - Gold (leaf) - $ 4500
Murchison, Western Australia, Australia
miniature, 4.8 x 4.6 x 2.0 cm

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This 3-dimensional specimen is composed entirely of intergrown leaves of gold, an unusual form of gold crystallization. Leaf gold like this is naturally formed flat into a foil-like thickness, and the leaves are grown/melded together to form a surreal mass of gold. This is from a very rich, single find brought out at the Denver show in the late 1990s by dealer Rob Sielecki. I have not seen such specimens for sale since. This piece has neglegible weight, because the gold leaves enclose airy hollows, but it has substantial apparent volume and display impact is rather impressive. Leaf gold is among the brightest, for luster, as well.

AGAU-34 - Gold - $ 2750
Eagle's Nest Mine, Placer Co., California, USA
small cabinet, 6.2 x 3.2 x 1.0 cm

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This classic style of showy specimen is what the mine is noted for. This piece is bright and sparkling, and is equally attractive from both sides. It is composed of intergrown gold crystals that flash reflections off the myriad points, and grow together like a tree. 25 grams

AGAU-32 - Silver - $ 2750
Huangtonxiang Mine, Lujiang, Anhui Prov., China
large cabinet, 17.1 x 1.8 x 0.6 cm

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This is a VERY long, elegant, robust "rope silver" crystal from finds of the early 2000s at this Chinese locale. If it were from Saxony or Kongsberg, and it does kind of look like silvers from those locales, you could expect double or more on the price simply based on historical favoritism points. The Chinese material is relatively undervalued, thus. This is a slender wire, but so large and long that it has a lot of impact.If from old Saxony, you could multiple the price by a factor of 3-4, as China silver is lower valued compared to the old classics and yet ropes like this are nearly identical

AGAU-31 - Gold - $ 5000
near Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
small cabinet, 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.6 cm

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ex. Matthew Webb

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This gold specimen is a nugget, but with unusual texture in that it looks crystallized at first. In fact, the surface is rugged and not smooth like most nuggets, but is not crystallized either. It presents as a huge surface area to weight ratio, since it is a thin "pancake" in form. Therefore you get a LOT of surface display impact when looking from the front, for this specimen, without spending a huge amount on weight of gold behind, that you cannot see anyhow. 47 grams (about an ounce and a half by weight, though it looks much more)

AGAU-30 - Silver - $ 2750
Huangtonxiang Mine, Lujiang, Anhui Prov., China
small cabinet, 6.9 x 1.9 x 1.8 cm

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An elegant, robust "rope silver" crystal from finds of the early 2000s at this Chinese locale. If it were from Saxony or Kongsberg, and it does kind of look like silvers from those locales, you could expect double the price simply on historical favoritism points. The Chinese material is relatively undervalued, thus

AGAU-28 - Silver - $ 4500
Uchucchacua Mine, Oyon Province, Lima Department, Peru
small cabinet, 7.1 x 4.8 x 4.8 cm

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ex. Dr. Edward David

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A very stylized, elegant silver specimen featuring seemingly wispy ropes of silver shooting out from the matrix. However, they are quite solid and robust. This is a great example of the twisted silver ropes which came out of here in the late 1990s. , and rare on the nice contrasting matrix. Superb for its size, these often tend to be too sparsely formed on clunky matrix, or too intermeshed to have great aesthetics.

AGAU-27 - Silver - $ 6000
White Pine Mine, Ontonagon Co., Michigan, USA
small cabinet, 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.8 cm

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ex. Charles Leavitt

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An unusually robust, arborescent silver specimen from this mine, composed of sharp silver crystals like a forest of evergreen trees, rising dramatically from a thicker silver base. Overall a very impressive display specimen, particularly so as the mine is known for rather frilly and wispy silvers compared to this more massive "beast." Old specimen, from the Chuck Leavitt Collection.

AGAU-26 - Gold - $ 7500
Eagle's Nest Mine, Placer Co., California, USA
small cabinet, 6.0 x 2.3 x 1.4 cm

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ex. Herb Obodda

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This is even more finely formed than the classic style of showy specimen the mine is noted for. The crystals here are a fine meshwork of interlinked gold, that just has mesmerizing complexity in person. This piece is bright and sparkling, and is equally attractive from both sides. It is composed of intergrown gold crystals that together make a long compound crystal, and flash reflections off the myriad points. The "latticework" gold is complete and well formed on BOTH sides. It is hard to rave enough about how exquisite this jewel-like piece is compared to the norm, and i always remembered it since i sold it back abotu 6-7 years ago to Herb Obodda. I recently got his collection, and my old gold here, back.

AGAU-25 - Gold - $ 6000
Eagle's Nest Mine, Placer Co., California, USA
miniature, 4.1 x 3.0 x 1.5 cm

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SUPERB top-percentile gold miniature from this mine! One of the most lustrous, gorgeous gold miniatures we have seen from this mine, for sheer mirror-like brightness combined with razor sharp crystallization. Brilliant, top percentile luster adds to the impact of this specimen, making it among my favorite gold miniatures (specimens in the 1.5-2 inch size range) from this location. When seen in person, it looks like gold-colored aluminum foil, it is so bright and so beyond the normal quality for the locale.

AGAU-12 - Gold - $ 1800
Lena River Basin, Bulun District, Saha Republic, Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia
miniature, 3.2 x 2.5 x 1.1 cm

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ex. John Barlow

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A crudely crystalllized Russian gold nugget from this classic locale. From the gold collection of F. John Barlow, sold off in 1999. Mass is 21 grams.

AGAU-11 - Gold - $ 1000
Lena River Basin, Bulun District, Saha Republic, Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia
thumbnail, 2.1 x 1.9 x 0.7 cm

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ex. John Barlow

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A fine, very baroque Russian gold nugget of classic form. From the gold collection of F. John Barlow, sold off in 1999. Mass is 11 grams.

AGAU-07 - Gold - $ 1250
Lena River Basin, Bulun District, Saha Republic, Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia
thumbnail, 1.7 x 1.6 x 0.8 cm

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ex. John Barlow

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A fine, very baroque Russian gold nugget with some sharp casts showing in its form (either from original sharp crystals of gold, or from gold the cast over another object, now missing). From the gold collection of F. John Barlow, sold off in 1999. Mass is 8.5 grams.

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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com

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