SOLD
MUN05-175
Apatite
Mt. Apatite, Auburn, Maine, USA
Small Cabinet, 5.6 x 3.9 x 3.0 cm
SOLD
The fame of this pegmatite district in Maine, owes much to the purple apatite known as "the Roebling Apatite." This is from the other major locality besides the Pulsifer, and is as deep and rich a purple apatite as ever I have seen from Mount Apatite. This particular matrix specimen is studded, on both sides, with lustrous, translucent, lilac apatite crystals which reach 1.0 cm across. That string of them extending vertically down the front is just over an inch long! The paucity of good purple apatite specimens from Maine in dealers stocks, combined with their rarity, makes this one, which also has a few clear, gem, small quartz crystals, a treasure. Old Schortmans label from the 1950s (at a guess) accompanies it.