An example of this material would be a highlight of any major collection of the US classics , Arizona minerals, or in a pseudomorph collection. Or, just because they are so unique and beautiful, in any collection - I am not aware of pieces that look like this from anywhere else. But, there are few to be had. This large piece features unusually sharp crystals, whereas most are rounded. It displays well horizontal or vertical. As a bonus to its beauty, these crystals are actually a rare double pseudomorph! The quartz has replaced chrysocolla, which itself has replaced malachite. Some people say that the malachite replaced original azurite crystals, as well. Then, a layer of sparkly gem chalcedony (quartz) draped and coated it all , for sparkle and a thin transparent coating that also is protective of the altering chrysocolla underneath. With intense color, sharp form, and good size, this is an impressive piece that just "glows" with translucency, instantly visible in a case for its purity of color and its brightness. My own instincts and experience say this is very good. According to a very prominent Arizona collector I showed this to after acquisition, this is hands down one of the best examples of the material (and he knows more than I). According to MINDAT: "Mineralization also involves the copper silicate Live Oak vein. All outcrops of this vein has long since been obliterated by caving operations of the Inspiration Mine. The vein occupied a fissure in the sill-like body of granite porphyry facies of the granite that overlies the schist in the western segment of the Miami-Inspiration disseminated copper deposit. The chrysocolla was undoubtedly deposited by supergene solutions that collected in the fissures and contained copper leached from the surrounding rock." (see http://www.mindat.org/loc-6777.html) . In other words, a rare and now vanished occurrence. I often see damaged, rounded examples which seem rather lumpy to me, for sale at already high prices. This one is one of the best such examples I have handled or seen in collections, including the major old Arizona collections. It has been in the Frank Valenzuela collection for nearly 40 years. Joe Budd Photos.

A gorgeous polished nodule of gem grade carving rough of the best color of "gem silica," chrysocolla and quartz mixed together along with malachite (the malachite in the form of needle-like inclusions). This is classic old material for the mine, but seldom do you see such large nodules still around as they have always been, and remain, desirable for lapidary use. The colors here are both particularly intense and contrasting. From the Rice Northwest Museum collection, originally donated by its founders Richard and Helen Rice (cat #207). I believe there is a fair amount of lapidary value to this specimen, and it is a beautiful piece even "as is." Weight is 2 pounds Joe Budd Photos.