SOLD
OLDEURO-108
Anglesite
Parys Mountain Mines, Amlwch, Isle of Anglesey, Wales, UK (TYPE LOCALITY)
Small Cabinet, 8.5 x 6.5 x 2.8 cm
SOLD
These sharp and gemmy, sparkling crystals to 4 mm are superb under a loupe, and sharp as you could wish for (especially after 200 years). This very old vellum label gives proof to the fact that this is a type locality anglesite. I have never even SEEN one for sale except one unattributed thumbnail 8 years ago; or on display...much less a VALID one with some clear labeling. From Mindat: The type locality for anglesite, specimens were found circa 1790-1820 when the mine worked the gozzen. Specimens are generally rare and examples can now most commonly be be seen in old museum collections...The mines were probably first worked in Elizabethan times (c1580). That this specimen was not named Anglesite on the label, but "lead sulfate" is ironic as the crystals do have a vitreous luster! This naming (or lack of, rather) also indicates it was probably found and labeled before the 1830s when the species was formally identified.