Datolite with Copper (polished)

Item Description

A beautiful polished nodule of Datolite and Copper from the Caledonia Mine in Michigan which dates back to the US Civil War era (1863) and produced thousands of tons of copper over its lifetime. While it was a major copper producer, this mine also was the source of some beautiful specimens of datolite, which are found in rounded nodules that are often cut and polished to show off their beautiful internal color, form and patterns. This piece is a great example featuring shining metallic copper and orangey colored Datolite (the color is due to copper content in the Datolite) which has been sawn and polished to show off their color and patterns. Typically you only see Datolite in these nodules, so to find such a rich amount of Copper with the Datolite is rare and significant.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 401 MI.4; 8755 George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information