Name: Witherite
Brand: Crystal Classics
Price: 350 USD
Availability: InStock

Updated 5d ago

Witherite

Fallowfield mine near Hexham in Northumberland, England is often thought of as the world's premier locality for Witherite. It is not the Type Locality, but is where the world's finest crystals of this wonderful species were found. Started as a lead mine way back in the early 1700s it was during the 1820s that remarkably perfect crystals of Witherite started to appear. Unlike anything seen previously, the white cyclic twinned hexagonal pyramidal crystals were staggeringly beautiful. Only later, when the price of lead dropped, did the mine start to produce pure barium carbonate instead, but the best Witherite crystals were those found earlier on. This rich miniature specimen is solid, dense, crystallized Witherite. It doesn't display the famous individual isolated pyramidal, or bipyramidal Witherite crystals, but does show the hexagonal pyramidal form well, as a crystal lined cavity. These crystals reach 8 mm in length and are in generally good overall condition with only slight abrasion to some of the tips of the crystals. This type of material was sometimes mistaken for Quartz, but its density provides a clue as to its real composition.

$350.00