Name: Fluorite
Brand: The Arkenstone
Price: 3000 USD
Availability: InStock

Updated 2d ago

Fluorite

A fine, display quality historic fluorite from an old German location in the famous silver mining district of Saxony, where relatively few good fluorites survived the difficult mining of oldstyle operations. Significantly, this is a rare crystal habit, as most Saxony fluorites are cubic, not octahedral. Sharp, gemmy, transparent octahedral crystals to 2 cm in a large cluster make this an important survivor. It likely came out in the mid to late 1800s and was already old by the time Otto Kuntze acquired it. A well known American collector of the time by the year 1900, he had a fabulous collection, now long dispersed. You can read more about him and his fascinating life here: "Otto Kuntze – one of America’s best-known mineralogists – was born in Nordhausen, Germany on February 27, 1867, held a degree of Doctor of Philosophy from one of the leading German universities, and was trained as both a geologist and a chemist"... courtesy of this site: https://ouriowaheritage.com/1900-iowa-mineral-office/. It is nearly free of damage, with just a few small breaks (not immediately visible until you look closely, and in any case 150 years old or more...). Note that, as we know this is an antique, I can tolerate some small damage and have decided NOT to send it to a modern lab for cleaning and restorations that would make it look sparkling and bright and new... we like the antique look on such things, sometimes.

$3,000.00