Calcite (rare locality specimen) (ex Henry de Linde Collection)

Item Description

PLEASE NOTE: This specimen is labeled as coming from Sallisaw, Oklahoma, which is fairly close to the St. Clair Quarry in eastern Oklahoma, but the town associated with the locality is Marble City. Additionally, the label refers to this material as "Iceland Spar", but I honestly feel like it's not correct for this piece, while it's gemmy, it's not the same optic grade material that I associate with that term. With that said, this is arguably the best piece of Calcite that we've ever had to offer from this quarry. This cabinet sized display specimen features a rich coverage of sharp, well-formed, GEMMY, colorless rhombs of Calcite measuring up to 1.2 cm across, but if you look closely, you can see that they have formed over a preexisting generation of sandy-beige colored scalenohedral Calcite underneath. With a bit of backlighting, you can see the "dog tooth"-esque points of the first generation of Calcite crystals poking into the rhombs above. The piece is in great shape overall, with only real damage being around the periphery where the piece was removed from the pocket wall. A wonderful example that would make a fine addition to any Calcite suite. Valued at $850-$950. From the collection of Henry de Linde (March 21, 1923 – April 4, 2019) of Hot Spring, Arkansas. Henry was one of the most prominent figures in the history of Arkansas mining and mineral collecting. Along with being a miner, mineral collector and an amateur mineralogist, de Linde was one of the founders of the Coon Creek Association mineral club. He was the owner of several key localities in Arkansas including the Diamond Jo Quarry (on the south rim of Magnet Cove), the type locality for Delindeite, which was named in his honor in 1987.