Amethyst, Calcite from Brazil

Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz, and it’s been known since time-immemorial with hundreds of localities around the world. Nonetheless, southern Brazil is synonymous with amethyst in most mineral collectors’ minds. Specimens are so plentiful that serious collectors often ignore them. This specimen is an excellent example of why that is a mistake. This 8.9 cm specimen consists of a bed of gemmy amethyst crystals, crowned with fine calcite crystals. It is everything a collector could want, beautiful, colorful, perfect… and all that without breaking the bank!