Dyscrasite from Příbram is one of the great European expressions of the species: metallic, architectural, and unmistakably tied to the late silver-antimony pulses of the Příbram uranium-base-metal district. The best specimens are not just “silver antimonide” curiosities; they are sculptural clusters of gray to tin-white blades, striated prisms, and thick columnar crystals rising from pale calcite or dark arsenic-stibarsen-rich matrix. Freshly exposed surfaces may show a bright metallic sheen, but most old Příbram pieces have settled into the lead-gray to blackened patina collectors expect from classic dyscrasite.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The classic locality behind most collector-grade examples is Shaft No. 21 at Háje, commonly catalogued as Uranium Mine No. 21, Dubno, in the Příbram District. Within that mine, the H14F and H14F3 veins are especially important. These were not broad, open alpine-style crystal caverns; they were narrow carbonate-sulfide-arsenide vein structures in a large hydrothermal uranium and base-metal system, and the dyscrasite pockets were local, chemically peculiar enrichments. That geological compression is part of the appeal: from thin veins only centimeters wide came some of the world’s most dramatic dyscrasite crystals.
Příbram dyscrasite has two collector identities. One is the true dyscrasite specimen: bladed, tabular, needle-like, or columnar Ag3Sb crystals, often associated with calcite, stibarsen, arsenic, allargentum, miargyrite, and native silver. The other is the native silver pseudomorph after dyscrasite, where later hydrothermal fluids dissolved or replaced earlier dyscrasite and left the crystal habit recorded in silver. Both are collected, but they should not be confused. The best labels distinguish “dyscrasite,” “silver after dyscrasite,” and mixed pieces with both phases.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Visually, the great Příbram specimens are recognized by their long metallic crystals, sharp striations, dark arsenic-stibarsen associations, and, in the most aesthetic examples, a pale carbonate contrast that makes the metallic dyscrasite stand out. Many prized pieces trace to small finds made during uranium-era work in the 1980s, particularly at Shaft 21. Their availability today is therefore strongly controlled by old collections, Czech dealer stock, and the occasional release of specimens that were kept back after the mines closed.
Search for specimens: View all dyscrasite specimens from Příbram, Czech Republic
Příbram lies in Central Bohemia, southwest of Prague, in one of the most historically important mining districts of the Czech lands. The ore region includes the older Březové Hory base-metal district and the later, enormous Příbram uranium and base-metal district. Dyscrasite specimens for the collector market are most closely linked to the Háje vein node of the uranium-base-metal district, especially Shaft No. 21 and its H14F and H14F3 vein systems.
The geological setting is a hydrothermal vein district developed near the exocontact of the Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex. The Příbram uranium district is largely hosted by Neoproterozoic sedimentary and volcanosedimentary rocks of the Barrandian Unit, cut by numerous tectonic structures. Uranium and base-metal mineralization occupied carbonate-rich veins, veinlets, breccia zones, and fracture systems. Published work recognizes several major mineralization stages in the district, including siderite-sulfidic, calcite, calcite-uraninite, and calcite-sulfidic stages. Dyscrasite belongs to the late Ag-Sb specialization superimposed on that broader vein history.
At the district scale, Příbram was immense. Modern studies describe more than 2,500 exposed hydrothermal veins, with uranium mineralization in 1,641 veins, base-metal mineralization in 35 veins, and monomineralic or near-monomineralic silver mineralization in 19 veins. Uranium mining was the dominant twentieth-century episode: Příbram operations ran from the late 1940s to 1991, and the district produced about 48,000 tonnes of uranium metal, along with significant lead, zinc, and silver. The earlier Příbram story, however, reaches much further back; the town had been a silver and lead mining center for centuries before uranium changed the scale of underground development.
For dyscrasite, the key mining geography is narrower. Shaft 21 is in the Háje ore node. The H14F3 vein was followed between the 7th and 9th levels of Shaft 21, in mining blocks designated HD14F3-901, HD14F3-801, and HD14F3-701. The vein itself was thin: published mine documentation gives a thickness of roughly 1–30 cm, commonly around 5–10 cm, with a strike of about 190–200° and an average dip of 70–75° toward the west-northwest. The most interesting Ag-Sb mineralization occurred in very local portions of this thin carbonate vein system.
Production and discovery history matter for collectors. During preliminary exploration for silver ore on the H14F and H14F3 veins between the 6th and 9th levels of Shaft 21, occurrences of monometallic silver ores represented by native silver, dyscrasite, allargentum, and Ag-Sb sulfides were recognized in the years 1980–1990. Classic specimen material from H14F is particularly associated with a 1984 find on the 6th level of Uranium Mine No. 21 at Příbram-Háje; later mineralogical work on H14F3 showed that the 7th–9th level material was chemically and texturally more complicated than the better-known H14F occurrence.
Modern collecting access is not a matter of entering the mine. The uranium workings are closed, and the significant dyscrasite-bearing material reached collectors through mining-era finds, saved specimens, museum and private collections, and later market dispersals. The Příbram Mining Museum preserves the broader mining heritage of the district, but high-quality dyscrasite specimens are chiefly encountered through collections and dealers rather than field collecting.
Příbram dyscrasite is famous for morphology. On H14F3, dyscrasite was documented in a remarkable range of forms: extremely paper-thin tabular crystals, tabular plates, needle-like crystals, thick columnar crystals, and regenerated aggregates in calcite. Crystals reached up to 6 cm long in the studied H14F3 material. Around the 7th level, thick columnar crystals were described with cross sections commonly exceeding 1 cm2, and the larger columnar crystals show the important collector clue of perfect cleavage on (001). Thin tabular and needle-like crystals, locally bent or leaf-like and commonly twinned, were found in stopes and raises below and above the 7th level.
Color and surface vary with freshness, patina, and replacement. Good specimens show metallic gray, blackish gray, tin-white, or lead-gray crystals. Striated blades and prisms are especially desirable. Some crystals are sharp and bright; others are corroded by later hydrothermal action. In polished or studied material, dyscrasite is commonly chemically zoned, with irregular domains reflecting changing Ag/Sb ratios and, to a lesser degree, Sb/Hg relationships. Published analyses of H14F3 dyscrasite show Ag/(Sb+As+Hg+Cl) molar ratios ranging from 2.79 to 3.90, while H14F material had reported ratios of 3.89 to 4.16. Minor arsenic and mercury occur in some types, with mercury particularly tied to regenerated dyscrasite and younger coatings.
The finest specimen aesthetic is contrast. Dyscrasite on white or cream calcite is particularly showy and much less common than darker, more massive-looking aggregates. Dark matrix pieces may still be excellent when the crystals are sharp and freestanding, especially when the dyscrasite is perched on arsenic, stibarsen, or the older “allemontite” type material. In display-quality miniatures and thumbnails, collectors look for upright clusters, open jackstraw arrangements, sharp terminations, distinct striations, and clear separation between individual crystals.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Typical associated minerals include calcite, siderite, native arsenic, stibarsen, native silver, allargentum, miargyrite, pyrargyrite, freibergite, freieslebenite, andorite, semseyite, stibnite, galena, sphalerite, löllingite, pyrrhotite, and arsenopyrite. Mindat’s photo-based association data for dyscrasite at Uranium Mine No. 21 emphasizes stibarsen, calcite, native arsenic, and native silver, which matches the collector experience: most recognizable examples sit somewhere in the arsenic-stibarsen-calcite-silver field.
A particularly important distinction is primary dyscrasite versus pseudomorphs. Around the 8th level of H14F3, later fluids dissolved earlier dyscrasite and arsenic so thoroughly that native silver and pyrargyrite came to dominate, locally preserving earlier dyscrasite forms as replacements. Around the 7th level, the later solutions were less aggressive; dyscrasite was more often preserved, while miargyrite pseudomorphs after dyscrasite became important. This vertical zoning explains why a Příbram specimen may have a dyscrasite-like habit but actually be silver, pyrargyrite, miargyrite, or mixed material.
Size is a major quality factor. Many available pieces are thumbnails or small miniatures, with individual crystals in the millimeter to 2 cm range. Strong miniatures with 1–3 cm crystals are prized. Specimens with crystals over 4 cm are exceptional, and published and show reports place the best Shaft 21 material in the 5–6 cm crystal range. Equally important is damage: because dyscrasite is cleavable and many crystals are thin, plates and blades easily chip, snap, or lose luster along exposed edges.
The first authentication question is locality precision. “Příbram” may refer to a broad ore region, the town, the district, or a specific uranium mine. For serious collections, the strongest labels specify Uranium Mine No. 21, Shaft 21, Háje or Dubno, and ideally a vein such as H14F or H14F3. “Příbram, Czech Republic” is acceptable for old labels, but it leaves mineralogical information on the table, especially because the H14F and H14F3 occurrences are not identical.
The second question is identity. True dyscrasite, native silver pseudomorphs after dyscrasite, and miargyrite or pyrargyrite replacements can look deceptively similar when judged only by crystal habit. Dyscrasite generally presents as metallic blades, prisms, plates, or columns; silver pseudomorphs may retain the dyscrasite form but show a granular, sparkly, or silver-rich surface. Where value depends on the exact species, analytical confirmation or a reliable old provenance is worth having. XRD confirmation is recorded for the Mindat occurrence of dyscrasite at Uranium Mine No. 21, and published studies of H14F3 used ore microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microprobe work to separate the species in this complex assemblage.
No common, locality-specific artificial treatment has become a standard part of the Příbram dyscrasite trade in the way that oiling, dyeing, or irradiation affects some other mineral markets. The real handling issue is preparation. Some specimens appear to have been acid-cleaned or acid-etched to remove calcite and expose the metallic dyscrasite. That can be legitimate preparation when disclosed and carefully done, but over-etching may leave crystals unsupported, dull surfaces, or give the piece an unnaturally excavated look. A clean contact between dyscrasite and calcite, with crystals still naturally seated, is preferable to a specimen that looks “dug out” of carbonate.
Condition deserves a close look under magnification. Long blades are vulnerable at the tips, and cleavages can mimic natural terminations. Thick columnar crystals may show hydrothermal corrosion that is natural to the vein history rather than post-mining damage; the distinction is important. Natural corrosion tends to be mineralogically integrated and may be accompanied by miargyrite, arsenic, or carbonate overgrowths. Fresh mechanical breaks are brighter, sharper, and more visually disruptive.
Rarity is moderate-to-high in ordinary small examples and high in aesthetic specimens. Příbram is not a one-specimen locality: pieces still circulate, and the 1980s finds placed meaningful material into European and American collections. But fine, balanced examples with sharp crystals over a centimeter, good matrix contrast, and reliable Shaft 21 provenance are no longer casually available. The top end is especially thin: specimens with crystals over 4 cm, open architecture, and minimal damage are classic-level dyscrasites and should be treated as finite old-pocket material.
Market availability is strongest through old Czech collections, European dealers, and occasional online listings. Many currently encountered specimens are small, dark, or partially altered; the collector should not expect every Příbram dyscrasite to have the dramatic white-matrix look seen in the best published photographs. A modest thumbnail with sharp, identifiable blades and an exact Shaft 21 label may be more desirable than a larger but massive, poorly documented “Příbram” piece.
The most repeated modern collecting story is the 1984 Shaft 21 find on the H14F vein. In the dry language of show reporting, the locality becomes almost cinematic: Uranium Shaft No. 21 at Příbram-Háje, level 6, vein H14F, dyscrasite crystals to more than 4 cm. Decades later, at the 2018 Munich Show, about 30 specimens from that famous find appeared at the stand of Vilém Sturek. They were already described as “historical,” even though the find had taken place within living memory. That is the fate of a great closed-mine pocket: once the shaft is gone from active mining and the specimens are absorbed into cabinets, a 1984 discovery quickly becomes classic old material.
H14F3 tells a different, more underground story. The vein was not a grand cavern but a narrow mineralized structure, followed between the 7th and 9th levels of Shaft 21. The working section included blocks HD14F3-901, HD14F3-801, and HD14F3-701. The vein could be only 1 cm thick, and even where it swelled it was generally measured in centimeters, not feet. Yet within that slender carbonate seam, late Ag-Sb mineralization produced an extraordinary range of dyscrasite: paper-thin plates, needles, tabular crystals, thick columns, and regenerated growths in calcite.
The underground geometry mattered. Published mine documentation placed a particularly interesting interval around the 7th level, near the crossing of the H14F3 vein with a narrow igneous body. The authors argued that this crosscutting body may have acted as a mechanical and geochemical barrier to hydrothermal solutions moving along the vein fracture. Beneath that barrier, local ore accumulations developed for distances up to several tens of meters. It is a collector’s reminder that the finest specimens may form not because a whole district is rich, but because a small barrier, a change in chemistry, and a narrow vein briefly coincide.
The vertical change from the 7th to the 8th level is one of the most useful stories for understanding specimens. Around the 7th level, arsenic, dyscrasite, and a later generation of arsenic dominated the ore mineral assemblage, and dyscrasite was often preserved. Miargyrite could replace dyscrasite, but native silver was comparatively scarce. Around the 8th level, later solutions had done more aggressive work: dyscrasite and arsenic were dissolved almost completely in places, and silver, pyrargyrite, allargentum, and freibergite appeared in their place. That is why a Příbram crystal form may be a fossil of an earlier dyscrasite crystal, now rewritten by a younger silver event.
The best specimens are therefore small records of time. A bladed dyscrasite in calcite is not merely a sharp crystal; it is an early Ag-Sb mineral that survived later fluids. A silver pseudomorph after dyscrasite is the same crystal habit after chemical erasure and replacement. A corroded column with miargyrite or arsenic coatings is a snapshot from the middle of that transformation. For serious collectors, Příbram dyscrasite is rewarding because the specimen itself often carries the paragenesis visibly.
Škácha, P., Sejkora, J., Knížek, F., Slepička, V., Litochleb, J. & Jebavá, I. (2012). “Occurrences of unique monometallic Ag mineralization at the H14F3 vein between the 7th and 9th level of the shaft No. 21 Háje, the Příbram uranium-base metal ore district, Czech Republic.” Bulletin mineralogicko-petrologického oddělení Národního muzea v Praze, 20(2), 230–254. Detailed mineralogical study of the H14F3 dyscrasite-silver-antimony assemblage, including vein position, crystal habits, replacements, and chemical data.
Škácha, P., Sejkora, J., Knížek, F., Slepička, V., Litochleb, J. & Jebavá, I. (2012). “Ag-Sb-Pb mineralization of the vein H14F3, Shaft 21, Příbram uranium and base-metal ore district (Czech Republic).” Acta Mineralogica-Petrographica, Abstract Series, 7, 125. Concise conference abstract summarizing the H14F3 mineral association and the 6 cm maximum dyscrasite crystals.
Dolníček, Z., Ulmanová, J., Sejkora, J., Knížek, F. & Škácha, P. (2023). “Mineralogy and genesis of the Pb-Zn-Sb-Ag vein H32A in the Příbram uranium and base-metal district, Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic.” Ore Geology Reviews, 162, 105695. Modern open-access study of another Ag-Sb-bearing Příbram vein, useful for understanding late dyscrasite-related silver enrichment in the district.
Škácha, P., Sejkora, J., Plášil, J. & Ondruš, P. (2017). “Selenide Mineralization in the Příbram Uranium and Base-Metal District (Czech Republic).” Minerals, 7(6), 91. Broad geological and mineralogical context for the Příbram uranium-base-metal district, including production figures and vein-system scale.
Knížek, F., Litochleb, J. & Šrein, V. (1990). “Dyscrasite and allargentum from the Háje vein bundle of the Příbram uranium deposit.” Věstník Ústředního ústavu geologického, 65, 321–328. Frequently cited early paper on dyscrasite and allargentum from the Háje vein bundle; the linked field-trip publication reproduces the citation in its reference list.
Kolesár, P. (1990). “Dyskrasit-Kristalle aus dem Bergbaurevier Příbram in der Tschechoslowakei.” Lapis, 15(9), 19–26. Classic collector-oriented Lapis article on Příbram dyscrasite crystals; cited by Mindat for the Uranium Mine No. 21 dyscrasite occurrence.
Mindat: Dyscrasite from Uranium Mine No. 21, Dubno, Příbram District — Best quick reference for confirmation status, locality quality, rarity, and associated minerals.
Mindat: Příbram, Příbram District, Central Bohemian Region — Broad regional mineral list and locality hierarchy for Příbram specimens.
Mindat: Dyscrasite photo by Rob Lavinsky, Uranium Mine No. 21 — Classic 4.5 cm specimen with twinned crystals and notes on 1980s pocket production.
Mindat: Dyscrasite and calcite photo by Eugene & Sharon Cisneros — Useful example of elongated dyscrasite crystals to 3 cm on calcite.
Škácha et al. 2012 full PDF on H14F3 Ag mineralization — Essential paper for serious collectors who want vein-level paragenesis and habit descriptions.
Škácha et al. 2012 conference abstract on Ag-Sb-Pb mineralization of H14F3 — Short, readable summary with the key dyscrasite size and morphology data.
Dolníček et al. 2023, Ore Geology Reviews: H32A vein, Příbram — Modern open-access geological study placing dyscrasite-bearing silver enrichment in the broader Příbram hydrothermal system.
Škácha et al. 2017, Minerals: Selenide mineralization in the Příbram district — Strong district-scale geological and production context for Příbram uranium-base-metal mineralization.
Wikimedia Commons: Minerals of Příbram — Photo category containing dyscrasite, silver pseudomorphs after dyscrasite, and other Příbram minerals.
Lapis report: Munich Show 2018 — Includes a market note on historical dyscrasite specimens from the 1984 H14F find at Uranium Shaft No. 21.
Mining Museum Příbram — Principal institution for the mining heritage of Příbram and its historic ore districts.
Mindat occurrence record: Dyscrasite from Uranium Mine No. 21, Dubno, Příbram District, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. Records the species as confirmed by XRD, rare at the site, and “excellent—world class for species,” with associated-mineral data from photo records.
Mindat locality page: Uranium Mine No. 21, Dubno, Příbram District, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. Locality-level mineral list and references for Shaft 21 material.
Wikimedia Commons: Dyscrasite-lw57a.jpg. Photograph and label data for a 3.7 x 2.8 x 2.7 cm Shaft 21 dyscrasite miniature, with crystals reported to 2.1 cm.
Wikimedia Commons: Dyscrasite-Silver-d38a.jpg. Photograph and label data for a 2.5 x 2.1 x 1.3 cm native silver pseudomorph after dyscrasite from Příbram.
Wikimedia Commons: Dyscrasite-Stibarsen-mrz183a.jpg. Photograph and label data for dyscrasite on stibarsen-rich matrix from Příbram.
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