DENV08-35
Cerussite
9-level, Bunker Hill Mine, Kellogg, Shoshone Co., Idaho, USA
Miniature, 5.0 x 4.0 x 3.3 cm
SOLD
This historic specimen is from the 9th level of the Bunker Hill, which had long ago been mined out by the early 1900s but was still accessible to collectors who knew their way around when this mine itself was accessible (now, it is a Superfund toxic waste site, sadly). A local collector went in and found this, he related, in the 1960s. It is an unusually aesthetic and display-quality specimen for a BH cerussite, more reminiscent of material from Tsumeb or Tiger in Arizona than from anywhere else. I am frankly hocked it survived all these years - and if it had changed hands in the meantime I am sure it would be damaged today but it survived unscathed in the collector's home until recently. This is, I think, an important, and unusually fine, American cerussite specimen. Ironically far more were found and saved from the Tiger mine, and yet they go for more of a premium because so many people collect Arizona locales. This is certainly more rare, and yet costs less than a comparable piece from Arizona might (and, even those are pretty uncommon today) .