Name: Smithsonite var. Manganoan
Brand: The Arkenstone
Price: 7000 USD
Availability: InStock

Updated 18h ago

Smithsonite var. Manganoan

A rare, seldom seen example of one of the most rare of all colors of Tsumeb smithsonite, manganese-rich. This is significant for the size, quality, color, and completeness of the 3-dimensional specimen, which is indeed complete all around, with a wonderful horizon atop. The crystals reach 1.4 cm on edge. The piece is a stack of thick smithsonite rhombohedra coating a solid inner matrix core. Note the sharp rhombohedrons without the surviving faces or rounded edges one normally sees with cobaltian smithsonite if and when it even forms sharp-ish crystals at all here. Also, the color on this is a subtle pink-red, not the pink-pink or pink-magenta of cobalt-rich smithsonite. Lastly, the luster and translucency/transparency of these razor-sharp crystals, together with the sharpness, makes them stand out to the eye from a more common cobaltian smithsonite. Once you have seen and held a few of these, it is obvious at first glance in the hand, even though in photos they might at first look similar - as I learned firsthand from Charlie Key and Marshall Sussman in the 1990s. Spotting and finding one of these in a collection is always a thrill, as they were sold at the time as unusually sharp cobaltian smithsonite and so, in the previous generation of collections, are always mislabelled. This material is distinct in shape and color from the more common cobaltian-rich pink smithsonite, and was found in only a small few pockets of crystals in the mid-1980s. Worldwide, while cobaltian and cuprian smithsonite occur at numerous locations, crystallized manganoan smithsonite only was found at Tsumeb.

$7,000.00