Name: Bournonite
Brand: Crystal Classics
Price: 12500 USD
Availability: InStock

Updated 1d ago

Bournonite

Bournonite from Herodsfoot mine is one of the 'must have' species for serious collectors of Cornish, or indeed British minerals. Despite larger and better defined crystals having been found in China and Bolivia in recent times, there is just something so special about the Herodsfoot mine specimens that were recovered during a narrow window of time during the 1860s and which were for over a century considered the world's finest examples of the lead copper sulphosalt. This significant, cabinet-sized specimen, is one of the finest to come up for sale in a while. It's beauty, and importance, comes from the aesthetic layout of large well-formed freestanding 'cogwheel'-shaped dark grey metallic Bournonite crystals and the surrounding partial overgrowth of contrasting snow-white Quartz and classic Siderite-Quartz matrix. Very few specimens of this quality made it out from the mine and most were sold by Richard Talling to the British Museum (now Natural History Museum, London). These Bournonite crystals reach over 2 cm in length, with thin and thick forms, all with perfect cogwheel edges. A remarkable piece, of the extreme highest quality that few can aspire to. Ex Professor Werner Paar collection it is accompanied by a very old handwritten label.

$12,500.00