This is classic oldstyle Boltsburn material, with phantoms and deep purple color combined with huge crystal size - almost certainly pre-1860s from this famous mine. Very lustrous and translucent to transparent, this large, twinned, fluorite exhibits a fine, deep purple color. The larger crystal is multiply phantomed and color zoned. It also exhibits an intensely colored rich purple fluorescence under halogens or daylight. Contact on the back side and a little bit of edge wear make the price lower, but it is still a significant and highly displayable specimen of great impact from this classic old mine. The style and color saturation is distinctly Boltsburn. Sharp phantom lines are evident, and add great appeal when viewed as shown. Additionally, it strongly fluoresces in daylight or UV, oir even just with normal halogen lighting spectra.

Elegantly perched high on a 3-dimensional matrix and with smaller pastel colored fluorite crystals, is a superb penetration twinned cluster of glassy and gemmy fluorite, exhibiting lavender purple color. The twin measures 2 cm in length. The fluorite glows an even richer intense grape-juice-purple under fluorescence with a UV light and , notably for this mine, even in just plain daylight. Collected in 1989 by miner Clive Wilkie, this is an excellent and aesthetic piece that does not break the bank to own. There are also some tiny crystals of sphalerite present on the matrix.

Here is an aesthetic cluster of penetration twinned fluorites. They are glassy and gemmy lavender-colored fluorite crystals, to 2.7 cm on a side. When backlit with a quartz halogen lamp, or just in plain daylight , the twinned crystals glow with a rich purple fluorescence which is the de facto standard of UV fluorescence in fluorite. The large twinned fluorites, are perched atop a galena crystal which sticks out the top of the specimen, and provides contrast. The bottom half of the piece is more opaque fluorite, simply acting as a pedestal for the finer quality top portion (and has some minor damage at the base, though this does not affect display value significantly). Collected in 1996, and Very nice, indeed! Illustrated in the Greenbank Collection book, page 85, is a 2/3-page photo of the top of this specimen. Joe Budd photo (lower left)

This is a gorgeous penetration twin of glassy and gemmy, rich lemon-yellow fluorite. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE LIKE THESE...when seen in person, you can see that Illinois and French yellow fluorites pale in comparison to the limpid twinned crystals of the best Hilton Mine specimens. These came out in a few long and dangerous underground collecting trips undertaken by Greenbank and friends, in 1969-1972. This particular piece was found in about 1970 from the Dow Scar Flats - the left hand side of the horse level, near the pillar area 400 ft. from the portal. It is unusual in that, unlike the other fine Hilton twins in the collection or that we have (rarely) seen, this specimen has a thin blue zone at the terminations of both crystals. This twin is sharp, absolutely limpid, and pristine. It is one of the finest fluorite specimens, to my eyes, from England - and in fact the greenbank collection probably had the finest Hilton suite as they collected many of these personally. For me, to handle this suite was one of the big prizes in getting the collection. Incredible purple fluorescence in daylight or UV is a bonus. This exquisite specimen is pricey, admittedly - but really quite unequaled. Illustrated in the Greenbank Collection book, page 106 (the Joe Budd Photo shown mid-left)

A superb, old time, penetration twinned fluorite showing SHARP phantoms! This specimen was mined prior to 1862 as per its BM label (though we were later told it was collected before 1840 and accessed around 1862). It features a large glassy and gemmy, rich lavender-colored crystal, to 5.9 cm on a side, on one side of a disproportional twinning, that exhibits many parallel phantoms. Perfect, except where it was contacted from the earth at the base and rear. Ex BMNH # 34468 and then exchanged out to the Tony Walshaw collection in the early 1980s. It went to Greenbank in 1989. It fluoresces a rich purple. Illustrated in the Greenbank Collection book, page 79 Joe Budd photo, atop

A freaky-lustrous, glassy and gemmy, penetration twin of deep purple fluorite, measuring 1.7 cm on a side, sits atop sphalerite-covered matrix here. The isolation is unusual and highlights the quality and form of the twin, which is among the most gemmy and well-developed we have seen. It has exceptional shallow surface features which make it interesting (and in fact a closeup is shown in "Classic Minerals of Northern England," page 86). The twin also fluoresces a rich, deep purple in daylight or UV lights. From the Frazer's Hush Mine, Weardale; and collected by miner Cliff Wilkie. Joe Budd photo, closeup.

A rare locality piece with unusual color! The matrix is covered by sharp penetration twins of lustrous and translucent-transparent fluorite crystals, to 2.9 cm across. These feature a light yellow core and colorless terminations. One or two crystals exhibit minor damage but this does not detract from the specimen, which is large and significant overall for this locality and the unusual color for the district.The specimen fluoresces a rich purple color. Found circa 2002.