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Mineral Specimens with Silver
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I am not normally one for sheet silvers, but WHAT a specimen!? This piece, which weighs nearly a kilo, features a spreading sail of leaf silver that measures approximately 15 x 12 cm, perched atop an amazingly well-trimmed matrix. It is anchored solidly to the matrix, by the way, and is not fragile at all. The silver leaf is much more elegant in person, and shows off purple and blue color highlights due to a microscopic bornite coating. I normally dismiss these as inconsequential when I see them small and loose occasionally, I freely admit; but this one is special. BETTER IN PERSON! 22 x 7 x 4.6 cm
9.7 x 6.4 x 4.7 cm. A gorgeous and thick nest of brightly burnished silver wires smothering a 3-dimensional vuggy matrix of solid acanthite from a 2007 find at the Imiter Mine of Morocco. The silver wires are a marvel to behold. Large wire silver matrix specimens like this have been uncommon here.
6.4 x 2.9 x 1.8 cm. A very rich, showy, old-time silver-copper "half-breed" from the famous mines of Michigan’s Copper Country. The sculptural specimen has an uncommon, particularly high silver content that I estimate at 70-80% or more. Most half-breeds have a silver content of less than 50%. The piece is nicely complimented by a small cluster of sea-green prehnite botryoids and embedded, layered, off-white analcime or baryte. Ex. Mullane Collection. Weighs 91 grams.
4.5 x 3.7 x 2.8 cm. An old-time, very sculptural, copper-silver "half-breed" from the National Mine of Michigan’s Copper Country. The silver on this very showy piece is the 7 mm "tiara", just below the peak of the piece. The three, sharp, angular "arms" are casted copper with a nice patina. The multi-colored "body" of this strange-looking piece is quartz, malachite, olive-green epidote and copper. The National Mine opened in 1848 and closed for good in 1893. Classic combination material from the Jaime Bird Collection.
2.9 x 2.5 x 1.5 cm. Simply, an exquisite, two-sided mound of "feathers" of lustrous, beautifully burnished, ultra-sharp, spinel-twinned silver crystals on quartz-rich matrix from the Port Radium District, Northwest Territories, Canada. Ex. Jaime Bird Collection.
3.3 x 2.3 x 2.1 cm. Rich nests of curved and curled silver wires cover much of the sintered-looking silver matrix on this showy specimen from the famous mines at Pribram. The silver wires are nicely burnished or are coated with acanthite. Chunks of embedded, dark matrix add character. Ex. Josef Vajdak Collection, a noted Pribram specialist.
3.1 x 1.7 x 1.0 cm. This piece came out of Porco about 6 months ago. Typically the Silver specimens from Bolivia are somewhat "flat" and boring, but this piece is pretty aesthetic for a Bolivian Silver. It is a fine, decent-sized (for this mine) group of "wires" of native Silver, forming a nice toenail specimen. The mine at Porco is the oldest and most significant Silver mine in Bolivia, and obtaining specimens is next to impossible because miners rarely bring out anything for sale, as the mine is a large commercial operation and virtually everything goes into the crusher. Most everything that evades the crusher is usually taken out of Bolivia by a geologist who has an "in" at the mine, or sometimes some brave miners risk losing their jobs by sneaking out a handful of specimens to raise a little extra money to feed their families. This piece was obtained directly from the miners at Porco.
10.2 x 6.8 x 6.7 cm. This is a fine, 3-dimensional, large cluster of silver that has completely replaced an amazing jigsaw-cluster of dyscrasite crystals. It is 500 grams, mostly of silver. While these are not particularly rare - many came out in the Soviet era - large and aesthetic specimens are certainly uncommon.
3.1 x 2.4 x 2.1 cm. This is a fine toenail specimen from a classic Bolivian locality. The mine at Porco is the oldest and most significant Silver mine in Bolivia, and obtaining specimens is next to impossible because miners rarely bring out anything for sale, as the mine is a large commercial production, and virtually everything goes into the crusher. Most everything that evades the crusher is usually taken out of Bolivia by a geologist who has an "in" at the mine, or sometimes some brave miners risk losing their jobs by sneaking out a handful of specimens to raise a little extra money to feed their families. I obtained this piece directly from the miners.
3.0 x 1.0 x 0.7 cm. An aesthetic, two-sided "spear" of spinel-twinned silver from Batopilas, Mexico. The specimen is very nicely burnished and is accented with tiny acanthite crystals. Classic material from this locale and the Mullane Collection. The faded label accompanying the piece is from the 1970s.
5.7 x 5 x .8 cm. A hefty plate of solid Silver - The edges have distinctive crystal faces exposed, which show how truly solid the piece it. Also, this weighty Silver plate has distinctive cubic/rhombohedral molds thought the surface, indicating an interesting and varied history for the piece during formation. Weighs 104 grams or over 3 troy ounces. Ex. Charlie Key Collection.
10.4 x 4.9 x 3.4 cm. One of Harold’s older purchases, he got this in 1961 before moving to the Southwest. It is a very hefty nugget of massive silver formed as a vein filling (162 grams), with small brilliant silvery speckles of skutterudite scattered throughout. Ex. Harold Urish Collection.
7.2 x 3.1 x 0.4 cm. A fine plate of kongsbergite from an uncommon for the species German locale - the Glasberg Quarry, Nieder-Beerbach, Odenwald, Hesse. Kongsbergite is the mercurian variety of silver and is relatively uncommon, worldwide. This two-sided piece has distinctly different lustre, one side bright, silver metallic and the other is matte gray.
5.2 x 1.0 x 0.9 cm. This silver wire looks like an old, lightning-struck, dead tree or "snag". It is a fine, good-sized (for this mine) group of curved, curled and twisted silver "wires" forming a very attractive specimen. The mine at Porco is the oldest and most significant Silver mine in Bolivia, and obtaining specimens is next to impossible because miners rarely bring out anything for sale, as the mine is a large commercial production, and virtually everything goes into the crusher. Most everything that evades the crusher is usually taken out of Bolivia by a geologist who has an "in" at the mine, or sometimes some brave miners risk losing their jobs by sneaking out a handful of specimens to raise a little extra money to feed their families. I obtained this piece directly from the miners at Porco a few months ago.
3.6 x 0.9 x 0.6 cm. The silver mines at Batopilas, Mexico have produced an amazing variety of aesthetic and beautiful spinel-twinned silver specimens. This striking, nicely burnished, spinel-twinned "feather" looks like a barbed knife blade or sword or a very nasty type of spined cactus with feet. Ex. Dave Stoudt Collection.
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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com
All Content and Design ©1996-2012 The Arkenstone
Mineral Specimens by species; or
by specimen id.
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share specimen![Silver from San Martín Mine, San Martín, Mun. de Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-22561a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-22561a.jpg)
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![Silver, Acanthite from Imiter Mine, Boumalne-Dadès, Ouarzazate Province, Souss-Massa-Draâ Region, Morocco [db_pics/mdpics/MD-226306b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-226306b.jpg)
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![Copper, Silver from National Mine, Rockland, Ontonagon Co., Michigan, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-227567b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-227567b.jpg)
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![Silver from El Bonanza Mine, Port Radium, Great Bear Lake, Mackenzie District, Northwest Territories, Canada [db_pics/mdpics/MD-227620b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-227620b.jpg)
![Silver from Příbram, Central Bohemia Region, Bohemia (Böhmen; Boehmen), Czech Republic [db_pics/mdpics/MD-228403a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-228403a.jpg)
![Silver from Příbram, Central Bohemia Region, Bohemia (Böhmen; Boehmen), Czech Republic [db_pics/mdpics/MD-228403b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-228403b.jpg)
![Silver from Porco, Agua de Castilla, Antonio Quijarro Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-228441a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-228441a.jpg)
![Silver, Dyscrasite from Příbram, Central Bohemia Region, Bohemia (Böhmen; Boehmen), Czech Republic [db_pics/mdpics/MD-229554a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-229554a.jpg)
![Silver, Dyscrasite from Příbram, Central Bohemia Region, Bohemia (Böhmen; Boehmen), Czech Republic [db_pics/mdpics/MD-229554b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-229554b.jpg)
![Silver from Porco, Agua de Castilla, Antonio Quijarro Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-229557a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-229557a.jpg)
![Silver, Acanthite from Batopilas, Andres del Rio District, Mun. de Batopilas, Chihuahua, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-229792a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-229792a.jpg)
![Silver from Cobalt area, Cobalt-Gowganda region, Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada [db_pics/mdpics/MD-229852a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-229852a.jpg)
![Silver, Skutterudite from Cobalt area, Cobalt-Gowganda region, Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada [db_pics/mdpics/MD-230161a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-230161a.jpg)
![Silver (Var: Kongsbergite) from Glasberg quarry, Nieder-Beerbach, Nieder-Ramstadt, Odenwald, Hesse, Germany [db_pics/mdpics/MD-230538a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-230538a.jpg)
![Silver (Var: Kongsbergite) from Glasberg quarry, Nieder-Beerbach, Nieder-Ramstadt, Odenwald, Hesse, Germany [db_pics/mdpics/MD-230538b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-230538b.jpg)
![Silver from Porco, Agua de Castilla, Antonio Quijarro Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-230581a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-230581a.jpg)
![Silver from New Nevada Mine (Nevada Valenciana), Cerro San Antonio, San Miguel, Batopilas, Andres del Rio District, Mun. de Batopilas, Chihuahua, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-230610a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-230610a.jpg)