THE VAULT

An important and old 1800's-era Silver, from the King of silver mines. The curator of the Kongsberg Museum identified the mine for me, saying it was immediately obvious to him the mine and the time it came out. Few enough of such size are on the market, and not tied up in museums already after al... Click For More Information

Even after all the other historical localities (Tsumeb, Russia, etc.), there is still something about these elongated dioptase crystals from modern finds in Northern Namibia by Charlie Key (keyite, ludlockite, and the Indiana Jones of mineral collecting in Southern Africa) and his mining team tha... Click For More Information

Scheelite from this now-diminished mine near the famous Panda Preserve in China simply is, beyond any question, the gold standard for the species. I have followed these for 20 years, since the mid-1990s, and they got better for awhile and then tapered off suddenly after the big earthquake of 2008... Click For More Information

This fluorite is not like others we have seen, and it features a stark zoning at the ends of the crystals that give them such a sharp form and separated look, that it simply is more impactful than any medium-colored purple fluorite normally has a right to be. In person, it looks more three-dimens... Click For More Information

From the famous 1969 pocket of purple Hydroxylherderites (see Bancroft's famous book Gem & Crystal Treasures)... Herderite from the single amazing find of 1969 set the world standard, and these purple herderites are almost never seen for sale today as they remain in collections and museums which... Click For More Information

Milpilas flowed azurite, and then flowed some more when we thought the oxidation zone would not give up more (watercourse pocket going down into the oxidized orebody), and then finally came to a crashing end for supply of the worl'ds best and most prolific azurite finds in all of history. Neverthele... Click For More Information

Pentagonite is the much more rare cousin of cavansite, technically a "dimorph" which means that it is the same chemistry but a different crystal habit, and therefore a different species. The color is equally good, but the sparkly luster on pentagonites at their best is better than most cavansite. Th... Click For More Information

Mimetite from Australia is usually not considered among the world's great specimens for the species, and tends to be dull and drably colored but one particular pocket from the late 1980s has stood out and still stands the test of time. This remarkable pocket of green to yellow mimetite crystals came... Click For More Information

The number of Colorado rhodochrosite specimens combined with fine fluorite of any quality can probably be counted on two hands. The number of cabinet sized examples, is probably half a dozen in all time. This large, fine, gorgeous plate has no repair or restoration unlike many others. It shows off a... Click For More Information

This important copper specimen is one of the single most significant coppers to come to market in my life and is from the mid-1800s heyday of mining in the Upper Peninsula. It has been preserved without damage or cleaning (which would ruin the ancient and natural patina) for over 100 years, probably... Click For More Information