RLIL14C-13
Fluorite With Quartz and Baryte
Sub-Rosiclare Level, Davis/Deardorff Mines, Cave-in-Rock District, Illinois, USA
Cabinet, 13.1 x 12.0 x 6.5 cm
SOLD
A beautiful double-sided specimen with sparkling stubby "fingers" of colorless quartz on one side and intergrown cubes of lustrous and translucent, purple-colored fluorite, to 2.2 cm across, on the other face. It is literally two specimens in one - different on each side. The classic rich color and the quartz association are characteristic of older material from this mine, the Deardorff, known for quartz association in a district where quartz is generally quite rare. As well, the quartz on fluorite is rarer still. Although not from the Lillie collection, this specimen is still an old classic, in good shape considering its age and the way these were treated by miners prior to the 1980s or so. A few small corner cleaves do not detract materially from the display view, though they are present. I have been told that pieces like this are from the 1960s or previous, though one cannot confirm this easily.