Calcite with embedded Fluorite, on Fluorite ex. Webb Coll

Item Description

A dramatic and highly unusual combination piece from the old Illinois Fluorspar district!!! We often see calcite on fluorite, or little calcites with little fluorites. But here it is a bit different. Emplaced on a LARGE doubly-terminated calcite scalenohedron, measuring 14 cm in length, is a crust of lustrous and translucent, rich, lavender colored cubes of fluorite. They are small, but there are a bunch of them, all embedded in the surface of the calcite like circuits on a chip. The calcite is actually moderately lustrous and colored a speckled, light gray color, with the upper part of the crystal exhibiting some translucence. The underside of the fluorite crust is lined with large, up to 2 cm across, fluorite crystals ,the largest of which is twinned. That cluster of fluorite extending underneath forms a natural pedestal for the large calcite. I have NEVER seen, out of thousands of pieces, a specimen quite as weird and complex as this one from the district. A fine old time Illinois combo specimen!