Calcite on Fluorite

Item Description

This is a wonderful association specimen from this famous (and now closed) Southern Illinois mine featuring a light cream colored scalenohedral group of Calcite measuring 6.2 cm long, aesthetically flaring off a good sized, lustrous, gemmy cube of Fluorite showing a primarily golden hue, but the outer edge does show a thin zone that changes color from a purple hue indoors to a beautiful blue shade in sunlight. The Fluorite crystal is not 100% complete, but it's not really damaged either, as the back of the crystal is etched and re-crystallized ("re-healed"), so it's actually close to being a "floater". While Calcite was not necessarily rare from this mine, it's quite difficult to find good showy display pieces on the market these days, and when you find the Calcites ON Fluorite like this, it's rare and special. Formerly in the collection of Eileen Sheets. Valued $4,000-$5,000.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 14.1.1.1 IL.43; 9141 George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information