Chalcocite (19th Century Fake)

$1,250.00

$40.00 shipping
Seller offers an extended return window of up to 30 days
Ships from USA

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Tucson, Arizona, USA

7,543 for sale·132 sold

Faked mineral specimens are not just a present day issue; they have a long history and tend to exist whenever demand exceeds supply of a desirable and sought after species. At first glance this is a most attractive specimen of well crystallised Chalcocite, purportedly (and probably is) from the Levant mine at Trewellard, close to St Just in Cornwall. A rich group of grey metallic Chalcocite crystals sit and stand on a flat platy matrix of green-tinged cream Calcite. On examination however, the larger crystals can be seen to be embedded in a cream-coloured paste which has not been well camouflaged to say the least! Under LWUV the paste fluoresces a dull leaf green. In all likelihood, the individual components of this specimen probably all originate from Levant, but from different parts of the mine! It’s a great example of a classic 19th century Cornish fake, for those collectors fascinated in the history of Cornish mines and its minerals.\n