Creedite (1960s) ex Wilber and Smale

Item Description

A fascinating historical creedite once in two of the greatest mineral collections in the USA, Dave Wilber and then Steve Smale! Creedite from Mexico is now known from a handful of modern era finds and from a few very old discoveries. The piece is a dramatic small-cabinet size with a rounded, crystal-covered ball at one end. It was owned by Dave Wilber, who says he paid "a total fortune" when it came out, in the late 1970s. By the mid-1980s he had traded it to Steve Smale, in whose collection it stayed until a recent exchange with me. Despite more creedite, and frankly more colorful creedite, that came out later this still remains a very unique specimen. It has an aspect all its own and for the traditional old style, is a supremely good and important example. This is a very old creedite from some of the earlier finds in the Santa Eulalia district for the species, before the better-known purple examples came out in the 1980s. The luster and crystal size here (to 1.6 cm) are both outstanding. Once valued so highly in a world where creedite as a whole was rare: I am embarrassed to say; but now creedite is more common. Still, it is a historical example and a different style than the modern finds.