"Barthite" (Cuprian Austinite) (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

A rich and showy small cabinet plate of gemmy and lustrous, intense green, Cuprian Austinite crystallized into rounded aggregates on contrasting limonite matrix from the Mina Ojuela, Mexico. This is classic, excellent, older material from this noted locale. This material was once considered to be its own species (called Barthite), but now it is the copper-bearing variety of Austinite. Valued at $500 Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#289). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).