Skutterudite ps. Silver with Fluorite and Baryte
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The ArkenstoneFeatured
This is a mesmerizing specimen that is so unlike most Skutterudite that we see from Germany or Morocco. Smaltite was originally referred to as the species name, then the name was demoted to an Arsenic deficient variety of Skutterudite, but now is considered a synonym for Skutterudite as the analyses done to identify it are all quite old and inaccurate. Its habit is so radically different from the "classical" style of lumpy crystals on a massive ore, with no contrast, as this material is now understood to be pseudomorphed after silver. Instead, we have this cityscape arrangement of crystals, reticulated and complexly intergrown, arranged inside a natural cavity of fluorite and Baryte matrix. Its long history surely started in the mid to late 1800s and then we can track it from within the collection of noted collector Albert Petereit (1860-1917), who sold it to AF Holden (1863-1913) in June of 1910 (see label). He donated his substantial mineral collection to the Harvard Mineralogical Museum in 1911, according to his biographical listing above. In Harvard it remained until the 1960s when it was traded out to Phil Sclaisi, in whose collection it stayed for some 40 years till it moved through us to Dr. Wouter van Tichelen, then to Gawan Fiore before returning to us for sale again!
Product details
SpeciesBaryte, Fluorite, Skutterudite, Barite, Silver
SizeSmall Cabinet
Dimensions6.0 x 4.2 x 4.2 cm
Listed on12/02/2024
LocalityGermany, Saxony, Schneeberg
SKURARE08-65
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