Acanthite

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The crystallization of the Acanthite is, to put it truthfully, world-class. The Acanthite crystals are cubic for the most part, but are simply yet deeply modified by hoppering, which manifests here as very deep grooves that cut into the original cubic shape of the Acanthite. The corners of the cubes are sharply truncated. The modifications give this piece a very mod, even avant-garde look, if we are to compare specimens to artwork. This comes from the Hongda Mine, which in the early 2000s started producing fabulous Silver specimens, and arguably even finder Acanthite examples, which is the low-temperature polymorph of silver sulfide (the high-temperature species being Argentite). It is the most common of the silver minerals, and yet very fine crystalline examples like this can be difficult to come by. This specimen comes with a custom acrylic base.