Cinnabar (antique specimen with great pedigree) (ex National Museum {Prague} Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful, old-time specimen of these INCREDIBLY hard to find Cinnabar specimens from the 1800s. This miniature sized specimen hosts semi-metallic, carmine or cochineal red colored crystals of Cinnabar measuring up to 6 mm scattered across the top of the underlying matrix. Up close, the Cinnabars have a unique semi-skeletal appearance, they almost look etched if you will. Additionally, there is a minor amount of the mercury halide, Calomel, which shows a red fluorescence under UV light. Mining at Jedová hora (Dědova hora; Giftberg) began in the 14th century and for all intents and purposes, the locality closed in the 1850s (it operated briefly in 1917), so specimens are virtually IMPOSSIBLE to find on the market, and you'll almost only see them in old museum collections. If the age of the specimen wasn't enough, it comes with a rich amount of historic documentation / pedigree including a couple of antique hand-written labels from unknown collections that almost surely date back at least a century. Additionally there is a fantastic hand-written label from the Museum Regni Bohemiae (National Museum {Prague}) along with dealer label from Mineralogischer Fachhandel & Versand plus a classic label from noted Czech/Slovak mineral expert, Josef Vajdak of Pequa Rare Minerals, which immediately increases the value. You can read Joe's biography here: http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1371. This is an important and impressive specimen that would make a superb addition to any collection of sulfide species or minerals from Bohemia. You may never see another one of these again, and almost certainly not with THIS kind of provenance.