TUC115-222
Atacamite
Moonta mines, Moonta, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, Australia
Miniature, 3.5 x 3.2 x 2.3 cm
Ex. Roland and Kathy Sherman
SOLD
An unusually aesthetic and superb spray of rare, robust atacamite crystals from the late 1800s or early 1900s, this was actually one of the larger pieces in the superb copper-species thumbnails/toenails suite of Roland and Kathy Sherman. It is a small miniature, properly. This material is a historic classic, EXTREMELY HARD to come by today as most was mined prior to 1930 or so. Many specimens are turn of the 1900s. To get such fine crystals is hard enough, but pristine ones, in a 3-dimensional spray?!...forget about it. Old material, superb for the species, and seldom seen, these only come out of Museum collections. This is one of my favorites of the update and one of the owners' favorites in their large thumbnail/miniatures collection when sold. It is illustrated in ROCKS & MINERALS, Connosseur's Choice Column (Sept-Oct 2006, pg 374). Joe Budd Photos