MAU-05
Gold
1992 Christmas Pocket, Crystalline-Alabama Claim, Jamestown mine, Tuolumne Co., California, USA
Miniature, 4.5 x 3.4 x 3.3 cm
SOLD
This rare locality piece is a characteristic style found twice: in the 1880s and later in one pocket in the early 1990s. It is from a single famous pocket which produced some of the finest golds seen since the gold rush era, in a lucky find by metal detector on long-worked property. The vertical flame of gold is 3.5 cm tall. The pieces from this find are in major museums and collections around the world, and seldom come up for sale. The piece is 360 degrees, complete all around, and displays elegantly from any angle. The gold leaf is quite sturdy and extends through the quartz matrix. Last sold in the 1990s by Herb Obodda. SEE THIS ONLINE MAGAZINE "CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY" published by the State of California: ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/dmg/pubs/cg/1993/46_03.pdf... It notes: "On December 26, 1992, a large pocket of gold was discovered at the Crystalline-Alabama claim of the Jamestown Mine, Tuolumne County. Operated by the Sonora Mining Corporation, the Jamestown Mine is a consolidation of several older mines that included the Crystalline-Alabama claim as well as the more famous Harvard Mine. Unlike other large pockets of California gold, this find, named the "Christmas Pocket," is unique because the gold crystallized in the form of bright, flattened ribbons called leaf gold. The pocket was slightly north of, and about 50 feet (15m) below, the old Alabama glory hole, which was mined over a hundred years ago. The entire pocket has now been mined."