Galena on Fluorite

Unknown Owner

A terrific bright silver Galena crystal measuring 1.5 x 1.3 x 0.8 cm set in a miniature bed of colourless translucent Fluorite, speckled with bright brassy micro-Chalcopyrite crystals. From the ancient and historic mining district around Freiberg in Saxony, Germany, the Galena crystal is the upper half of a truncated cuboctahedron with a 5 x 5 mm square top cubic face (001) and four diverging octahedral faces (111, etc.). The octahedral faces exhibit further intricate crystallography forming an aligned triangular geometry. Sub-mm cubes of transparent light purple Fluorite are scattered over parts of the Galena prism faces. A fascinating and aesthetic miniature accompanied with a pervious German collector’s label.\n