Carrollite - large cuboctohedral crystal

Item Description

A significant specimen of the finest in the world examples of this rare cobalt species, from the famous discoveries of the late 1990s brought to Tucson by the Gobin brothers. This important, large, complete crystal is 5 cm across and has textbook symmetry and amazing luster and color - hard to convey by photo, better in video. Crystals of this size without major damage were few and far between, and mostly singles. This crystal displays perched up on a natural pedestal of matrix - actually, another crystal. It has only the slightest of edge wear on close examination and is "near pristine" as they go - again, remarkable for the size. The crystal is, surprisingly, complete even on back. It is flat and contacted on the back where it grew against calcite, but it is definitely complete and not broken. This is a major specimen the likes of which has not been on the market for nearly 2 decades, and such pieces should command prices of $10k and up. To try to convey the sheer mass of this specimen, a heavy cobalt mineral species, it comes in at 270 grams!