SOLD
PAS-119
Ferro-Axinite
Vitoria da Conquista, Bahia, Northeast Region, Brazil
Miniature, 5.5 x 2.4 x 0.8 cm
Ex. Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences
SOLD
Most people today do not realize that before the finds from California and the Ural Mountains, in the last couple of decades, the world's best gem axinites came from Brazil (even if larger ones came rarely from Japan in the 1800s, they weren't gemmy). Bahia today produces many other minerals, but the axinite deposit seems to be gone. This beautiful, gemmy, transparent crystal is nearly a floater...it is doubly-terminated, but with a small contact on one tip. It has some minor edge wear, which is more obvious in the photos than in person and is not so very detracting given the size and age of the piece. According to museum records, this was in a Donahue collection.