SM22-100
Calcite with Butterfly Twin (famous find)
Malmberget, Gallivare, Norrbotten Co., Sweden
Small Cabinet, 8.4 x 7.7 x 5.4 cm
SOLD

For a very short time this locality produced some of the most beautiful, yet rarely seen, Calcite styles in the world. They were traded around initially only in very small circles and as exchanges from the major discoverer and a few collecting friends of his, and priced at their weight in Gold. I have not seen a good one for public sale since the 1990s beyond a few single points that turn up time to time, and other than one monster piece noted below, I have never seen such a nice matrix example with a matrix twin crystal as this small cabinet piece. It is the incredible amber-yellow color, translucence, and crystal morphology that put specimens like this in the front ranks of Calcite specimens. There is almost a silky look to them that adds a glowing effect to the color. The largest modified scalenohedron in this cluster of twelve or so crystals, is not only large at 5 cm in length, but it's also TWINNED! This crystal is absolutely perfect, as are most of the others. The piece is pristine save one minor ding on one crystal and some contacting in places at the periphery. This is a rare matrix piece, with great color, and I cannot say that I could ever find another so nice for the Calcite collectors out there! Here is a photo of the Big One from the pocket, a similar (if larger) crystal that we ironically found in an old USA collection and then sold back to the man who found the pocket, Peter Lyckberg, is shown here : https://www.mindat.org/photo-421962.html. Note he identifies the year of this pocket as 1988. These are almost impossible to obtain now.