Cuprite (classic material) (ex Vic Hoffman Collection)

Item Description

A beautiful old time specimen of Cuprite from the famous Bisbee Mining District. This large miniature / small cabinet features a fully crystallized mound of dark metallic red Cuprite with associated off-white Calcite and no matrix. Upon close inspection, you can see that the Cuprite features dozens upon dozens of textbook octahedra, some of which show tiny cubic or dodecahedral modifications. The piece is best viewed under magnification, and we have photographed it with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. With a decent amount of backlighting, you can see the blood-red internal hue of the Cuprite come through. This material is certainly a classic from Bisbee, and considering that nothing new has been available from this area for many decades, it's a great chance to pick up an attractive specimen for a good price. We had this one valued at $800 in the inventory. The piece is from the collection of Vic Hoffman.