Calcite

Unknown Owner

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If you pick up any old mineralogy book from the so-called Golden Age of mineralogy, and look at the classics shown from Europe as scientists were describing and learning about symmetry and classification, you will see these dramatic calcites again and again, illustrated as far back as the 1700s. St. Andreasberg is a major silver-mining district that dates back further still. From the dawn of serious mineral collecting in Europe, these calcites were desired and traded amongst the collecting nobility and scientific elite of the day. Today, especially large and showy specimens are seldom seen and hard to obtain. This specimen has the dramatic columnar crystals with slight white color-zoning, which I think you can safely say is the classic style for the locale, most known. Crystals reach 2 cm in size and spray dramatically from a common center.