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OLDEURO-100 - Schorl - AUS$463 SOLD Mursinka, Urals, Russia cabinet, 15.8 x 13.2 x 4.2 cm
A very old specimen from this classic pegmatite locality, with lustrous, long schorl crystals to 4 cm, perched on feldspar and muscovite matrix. Although many of the schorls are damaged or missing terminations, some are intact...and in any case its overall an impressively large display specimen for the locality, all things considered.
OLDEURO-101 - Aquamarine - AUS$869 Tirschenreuth, Oberpfälzer Wald, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany small cabinet, 8.5 x 5.2 x 4.6 cm
A really neat pale blue-green aquamarine crystal, perched in matrix, from old Germany (likely early to mid 1800s). The crystal is 5 cm long and is complete, with only very minor edge wear
OLDEURO-102 - Galena with Calcite - AUS$463 St. Andreasberg, Harz Mountains, Lower Saxony, Germany small cabinet, 7.7 x 7.0 x 4.0 cm
An interesting combo specimen featuring flattened , disc-like galena crystals stacked upon matrix, and surrounded by a halo of translucent disc-shaped calcites. This is unusual for Andreasberg, in that I have not seen many galenas from there that are pretty but the place is famous for its wide variety of calcites.
OLDEURO-103 - Pyrargyrite - AUS$521 SOLD St. Andreasberg, Harz Mountains, Lower Saxony, Germany small cabinet, 9.3 x 7.1 x 3.2 cm
A large display face with flat-laying crystals of dark red pyrargyrite, typical of the locality but rare in larger specimens like this. Some crystals are damaged, but nonetheless there is rich coverage by leaf-like or dendritic veins of crystallized pyrargyrite over the piece and it is somewhat lustrous and attractive as an overall.
OLDEURO-104 - Anglesite - AUS$1681 Monteponi, Sardinia, Italy small cabinet, 6.4 x 5.7 x 4.1 cm
A glassy, GEMMY, transparent angelsite of stunning quality, complete except for a very minute bit of edge wear. It measures 1.7 cm across and sits atop a galena pedestal. Classic for this old locale, rarely seen in such aesthetic quality though.
OLDEURO-105 - Millerite - AUS$1101 SOLD St Andreasberg, Harz Mts, Lower Saxony, Germany cabinet, 10.0 x 7.4 x 4.0 cm
An extremely, extremely scarce example of millerite from this old silver mining district, where it was always exceedingly rare. I have never seen one before, myself. The specimen consists of thin veinlike millerite interspersed between calcite, in massive calcite. It is a certainty that were you to etch this out, there would be much more inside, probably better preserved within the calcite. Most of the millerite showing is to my eye noncrystalline or microcrystalline, and as vein filling. But its there, and the piece was verified by Herb Obodda, who pronounced it legit.
OLDEURO-106 - Pyrostilpnite - AUS$2899 SOLD St Andreasberg, Harz Mts, Lower Saxony, Germany cabinet, 10.2 x 9.1 x 5.3 cm
This specimen is a big (protective) mass of rock holding a protected pocket with an OUTSTANDING crystal of the very rare silver species pyrostilpnite. I have seen many of these, probably more than most, in the US-based collections of Bill Pinch, Josef Vajdak, Kay Robinson, and Mark Feinglos, as well as a few on exhibit in Germany. But for sheer visual pizzazz, this one with its robust upright, freestanding crystal, is really one that appeals to me more than most micro-type species do. The crystal is approx 5.5 x 2 mm in size. Note the label dated 1875, from the Sack collection. From MINDAT: originally described as Feuerblende (Feuer = fire, Blende from blenden = to blind, for the adamantine luster), later translated into Pyrostilpnite (from Greek pyr = fire, stilpnos = bright or shining)
OLDEURO-107 - Alstonite with Witherite - AUS$2319 SOLD Brownley Hill Mine, Alston Moor District, North Pennines, Cumbria, England, UK (TYPE LOCALITY FOR BOTH SPECIES) small cabinet, 9.7 x 4.1 x 3.7 cm
This rich specimen dates back to , I would expect, the heyday here in the mid-1800s. It is covered by very sharp, alstonites to 6mm. Atop is a 2-cm cluster of witherite, as well. I think the orange dot atop is the remnant of a very old glue label. In any case, its surprisingly an attractive specimen, although there is some value to the even more attractively prepared, and exhaustively descriptive, old labels!
OLDEURO-108 - Anglesite - AUS$1739 SOLD Parys Mountain Mines, Amlwch, Isle of Anglesey, Wales, UK (TYPE LOCALITY) small cabinet, 8.5 x 6.5 x 2.8 cm
These sharp and gemmy, sparkling crystals to 4mm are superb under a loupe, and sharp as you could wish for (especially after 200 years). This very old vellum label gives proof to the fact that this is a type locality anglesite. I have never even SEEN one for sale except one unattributed thumbnail 8 years ago; or on display...much less a VALID one with some clear labeling. From Mindat: The type locality for anglesite, specimens were found circa 1790-1820 when the mine worked the gozzen. Specimens are generally rare and examples can now most commonly be be seen in old museum collections...The mines were probably first worked in Elizabethan times (c1580). That this specimen was not named Anglesite on the label, but "lead sulfate" is ironic as the crystals do have a vitreous luster! This naming (or lack of , rather) also indicates it was probably found and labelled before the 1830s when the species was formally identified.
OLDEURO-109 - Calcite on Calcite - AUS$521 St. Andreasberg, Harz Mountains, Lower Saxony, Germany small cabinet, 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.0 cm
An interesting vintage-1853 piece with several generations of calcite present! One generation of small, discshaped, gemmy calcites has coated a previous generation of extremely elongated "angel-wing" style calcite, making for a fairly dramatic and different specimen from what we normally see from here. I cannot make out the mine name in Andreasberg on the label, but it is indeed from this district.
OLDEURO-110 - Celestine - AUS$231 SOLD near Cairo, Mokatam, Egypt small cabinet, 7.6 x 4.3 x 3.4 cm
Not the prettiest celestite, but from a VERY VERY neat locality, I would say! This was an old quarry that in the 1800s was worked for building materials, near the city of Cairo. This is a complete crystal , a floater, except for one cleaved face. The rest of the crystal faces are more dirty than damaged as they may appear in the photo, with pocket clay still adhering, but I like that antique look.
OLDEURO-111 - Axinite - AUS$173 SOLD Lake Santga Maria at pass Lukmanier, connecting Graubünden and Tessin, Switzerland small cabinet, 6.2 x 4.5 x 3.2 cm
Sharp, very gemmy, crystals to 7mm are covering this contrasting matrix. A good old Swiss locality, that I was not previously familiar with.
OLDEURO-112 - Galena, Siderite, Quartz - AUS$2319 SOLD Pfaffenberg Mine, Neudorf, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany small cabinet, 6.3 x 5.7 x 1.7 cm
The old label seems to indicate an origin in 1874, and aesthetically I just cannot believe that this beautiful plate survived so well! Sharp crystals to 1.25 cm of classic Neudorf, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany galena are emplaced on beautiful siderite, sparkling quartz, and very 3-dimensional. The siderite is translucent and sharp. This is one of the most stunningly aesthetic Neudorf, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany pieces I have seen. I have seen a number of them, as well, at the Munich show and elsewhere priced at 5000 euros and up when in this quality, and undamaged. This one is pristine except for a slight cleave on one lower siderite.
OLDEURO-113 - Enargite - AUS$463 Butte, Silverbow County, Montana small cabinet, 7.2 x 4.9 x 2.4 cm
A classic American specimen, one of just a few pieces in this collection from our hemisphere. It is actually a ncie piece, with robust, classic dark black crystals and minor pyrite in association. Although there are a few dings, on a few crystals, it is generally in good shape.
OLDEURO-114 - Stolzite - AUS$2319 SOLD Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia small cabinet, 6.8 x 4.6 x 1.6 cm
A striking specimen visually, for the lustrous, gemmy, fiery-orange/red stolzite crystals to 5 mm on a stark black background. There is almost no damage to the front, jsut to a few tiny crystals. All the majors are pristine. This is the most classic and treasured habit of Broken Hill stolzite, and the crystals are relatively robust. More crystals are on the backside as well, of the other, more "wulfenite-looking" habit of stolzite. I think these transparent 1-2mm windowpane crystals were mistakenly labelled as raspite on one of the two old labels here.
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