Azurite with Malachite ''snail''

Item Description

Bisbee is one of the world's premier localities for Azurite and Malachite, and the famed Copper Queen Mine is one of the most famous mines in the United States. This piece is a wonderful old-time example featuring a fine quality, classic, lustrous, rich navy blue colored "rosette" of Azurite measuring 1.9 cm across, sitting on contrasting oxidized matrix. If you flip the piece over, you'll see a lovely, mint green colored velvety group of Malachite in the shape of a "snail" (more technically it's more like a "slug" because it doesn't have a shell) measuring 2.0 cm long. No damage, fine quality, very showy and the combination of Azurite with Malachite is one of the most recognized associations in the mineral collecting world. Valued $1,500.
The piece is from the collection of Richard ("Rich") A. Kosnar (1946-2007), the well-known mineral dealer and collector from Colorado. He was the namesake for the rare zirconium phosphate mineral, Kosnarite. Rich's collection number RK43 can be seen on the bottom of the specimen, and the low number means it was one of the early entries into his collecting, going back about 60 years ago. The piece is accomapnied by a label from Mineral Classics (Brian Kosnar).