The shape of this twinned calcite crystal is simply sexy: the combination of sharp pseudotriangular termination , penetration twinning, gemminess, and phantoms is totally unique to this day. This is an exceptional, and impressive, large twinned crysatl that is glassy , gemmy and colorless. Unlike most of the English butterfly twins which are robust and thickly 3-dimensional in general, this twin does not extend into a 3rd axis, being no thicker than 2 cm , along its very flat front and back sides. Although there are really fascinating vertical striations on the front and back, there are not protuberances sticking out in all directions as you'd expect for most twins. It is aligned vertically. All similar crystals I have seen from this old find were similarly formed. For that matter, I'm not sure that I have seen another calcite twin quite like this one from ANY other locale but this old classic find (I know they were found in the "old days" but not exactly when. They do turn up only in museums and old collections, it seems; and quite a few went into the Smithsonian and then were used to trade out for other minerals in the mid-1900s). This one turned up in an old collection in California in the late 1990s, and I kept it in my personal calcite collection which I had built til that time. I then sold it into the Stoudt collection of Mexican minerals in 2005. Although not in the Heck collection of Mexican minerals as are most others in this update, this piece is from the Stoudt collection which I also recently acquired, and so fit well with the larger Mexican themed update. Small ones turn up time to time. I have only seldom seen one so good, so big, and in this condition. comes with custom lucite display base. Joe Budd Photos.

This is a really neat and weird style of specimen, that we have only seen from the old finds at this locality. Multiple fingerlike stalactites of celestine and calcite intergrowths, to 6.9 cm in length, are emplaced on matrix (also intermixed). The celestine is lustrous and gemmy and a lovely sky blue color, while the calcite is nearly snow-white. The swirling contrasts are striking, and this is one of the better-preserved examples of the material that I have seen go by in 2 decades of knowing about them. I could not even find when they were mined, except that older collectors always told me (as a young calcite collector myself): "a long time ago." Usually you only see small pieces, or large but damaged specimens. This one is pristine and complete all around , except only the massive matrix at base. It is aesthetic and displays well from ANY angle or view. The upper display side of the largest finger glows a neon-green fluoresence, indicative of a thin coating of hyalite opal. Although not in the Heck collection of Mexican minerals as are most others in this update, this piece is from the Stoudt collection which I also recently acquired, and so fit well with the larger update.

We see very little good stibnite from Mexico, and almost nothing with "style" and aesthetics. This piece, though, has both. Stacked poker-chip aggregates in parallel growth of gray but lustrous calcite, to 2.9 cm in length, are the natural pedestal for a diverging cluster of splendent, dark gray crystals of stibnite, to 5 cm in length. This combination of species makes the piece more aesthetic than others I have seen, and we believe this to be a fairly significant locality specimen.