Bayldonite

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This solid, hefty, weighty specimen (over 580 grams) is 100% bayldonite of three different forms! It has massive bayldonite on which is a layer of microcrystalline druse, sparkling in vugs. In the central vug are elongated, acicular crystals of hairlike bayldonite, quite unusual for the species. This is an old specimen that came out of Harvard some time ago, and ended up in the George Elling collection for a number of years. It is almost certainly from the early 1900s and the first (upper) oxidation zone at Tsumeb based on comparison to other documented pieces from that era of bayldonite (particularly common as a pseudomorph, then). Primary bayldonite of this richness, though, is amazing to me and I have never seen the like. This is a tremendously important (and luckily, quite colorful) Tsumeb rarity.