Calcite on Quartz pseudomorphing after Calcite

Item Description

A classic old-time specimen from Guanajuato featuring beautiful, silky, colorless scalenohedral crystals of Calcite measuring up to 2.2 cm, sitting on bubbly drusy white sparkling Quartz which has pseudomorphed a previous generation of "dogtooth"-shaped Calcite crystals. Most of the Calcites are in really good condition, though I can see one cleaved crystal, and a few minor imperfections. A lovely combo specimen dating back to the 1980s.
This piece comes from the personal collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman, the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. Dave is now retired from mining, but he worked for decades in various mines underground in Colorado, as a miner, mechanic, engineer, shift boss and foreman. His biggest claim to fame is that he was the foreman and the primary person in charge of mining and specimen recovery at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado in the 1970s alongside his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar. This project what was the FIRST ever operation for specimen recovery at this historic locality. A full-page photograph of Dave can be seen mining underground at the Sweet Home in on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".