Libethenite - image 1
Libethenite - image 2
specimen video

Libethenite

$1,500.00

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Crystal Classics
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Tucson, Arizona, USA
7,543 for sale·132 sold
The late 19th century Samuel Henson dealer label accompanying this Cornish Libethenite specimen sums things up very nicely: "very large xx" - xx meaning 'crystals'. Phoenix United mine is well-known to have produced the largest Libethenite crystals in Britain during the latter years of the 19th century and these two crystals on a miniature specimen are considerable in size (1 and 0.9 cm). Henson's address as 277, Strand, London, dates his label to between 1878-1888. Neither crystal are entirely complete but do show the classic octahedral form. Ex Kay Robertson collection (with label and photographed by Rock Currier in 1973 - see Mindat.org), and ex. U.S. National Museum (Washington A. Roebling collection). A rare and extremely desirable Cornish classic.

Product details

Species
LibetheniteAbout Libethenite →
SizeMiniature
Dimensions3.9 x 3.2 x 3.0 cm
Listed on05/20/2026
Locality
UK, England, Phoenix United MineRegional guide →
SKUCC43202

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Mineral guide
Learn about Libethenite
striking bottle-green copper phosphate with sharp, glassy crystals; prized for rarity and top localities like Tsumeb and Shinkolobwe.
Libethenite
Regional guide
Libethenite from Phoenix United Mine, Cornwall, UK
from Phoenix United Mine is one of the classic Cornish expressions of the species: dark bottle-green copper phosphate, most often seen as glassy patches and small vug-linings in iron-rich quartz gossan, but capable—at its best—of forming sharp, pseudo-octahedral to bipyramidal crystals of exceptional size for Britain. The locality’s appeal is not simply that libethenite occurs there; it is that Phoenix United and its Wheal Phoenix workings gave collectors old-time Cornish examples with a distinctive nineteenth-century pedigree, the kind of material that turns up with hand-written dealer labels, museum provenance, and the terse collector shorthand of an earlier mineral trade.