A brilliantly colored, lustrous smithsonite from famous finds here brought out by Benny Fenn in the late 1990s. This was one I picked from a full table of such specimens the month after they came out of the ground. I loved it for its robust 3-dimensional shape and the intense coloration, an almost iridescent and saturated teal-blue color. In sad fact, I have had this all that time, lost in a flat since my move to Texas. Now, such pieces are very, very hard to come by and this specimen is quite good compared to any I have recently seen on the market. But then, even when they came out, I was fairly confident I got an early pick and this was one I really liked even in context of seeing a table full at once. Most had damage and edge issues, or disruptions to the uniformity of color. Joe Budd Photos.