A superb, unusually sharp, 3.5-cm-long cinnabar twin sitting perfectly exposed upon contrasting matrix. Seldom do you get such a nice display on one of these twinned crystals, which generally were found in the late 1980s and early 1990s here. Furthermore, the lustre, and consistency of color, are both outstanding. No damage! Joe Budd photos. NOW DONATED TO THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION TO REPLACE SPECIMEN LOST IN THE 2011 EARTHQUAKE

This is a very old classics, rarely seen in such large size! The piece dates to at least 1895 by the label - but the date could as easily mean 1795 because the label does itself look old enough, and I have seen other specimens from this ancient locale with labels dating to the 1700s in the Robert Ferguson collection, in the past (1769-1840). The specimen has some damage, to be sure, but also has a very rich and colorful display face with lots of good, gemmy crystals. It survived into modern times and ended up in the noted classics collection of Richard (Dick) Barstow of England, by the 1960s-70s. His label also comes with it. Upon his death, it was sold by his widow Yvonne to Eric Asselborn, in whose collection it remained until recently. This is a highly important, historic specimen , overall.