Fluorite (bi-colored crystals) with Calcite

Item Description

Southern Illinois Fluorites are among the most popular, colorful and eye-catching examples of the species from any US mining area. All production has been shut down in Hardin County, so there will be no more specimens going forward, and good pieces have been quickly disappearing from the market. This piece is a robust large cabinet filled with beautiful, well-formed cubes measuring up to 3.0 cm on edge, with selective coatings of Calcite on certain faces. On the surface the Fluorites may appear to be a dark purple hue, but they are in fact bi-colored showing much more of a vivid coloration internally when backlit. The two main colors are imperial purple and a fiery golden hue, but they blend together in areas to create a gorgeous deep fuchsia-pink shade! A small amount of roughness can be seen in a few spots, but the piece is largely in very good condition, and that gorgeous mixture of colors (some areas do show clear "phantom" zoning) is a signature aspect of these beloved Fluorites.
PLEASE NOTE:   The color in the photos is not 100% accurate to the way the piece looks in person. There is more saturation in the photos than you might see when you hold the piece in your hands.  Additionally, we used a 3000K light to backlight the piece, which creates a warmer hue inside the Fluorites when backlit, but we really wanted to get the point across at how the colors look when they are blended together.
Valued $3,000
From the collection of Gary and Terry Butts of Livermore, Colorado. This husband and wife collecting duo were childhood sweethearts, and have been together since they began dating as teenagers growing up in East Des Moines, Iowa in the 1950s. Both of them had an early interest in the hobby thanks to the fact that Terry's parents had a keen interest in lapidary, which sparked an interest in rocks for both of them. Gary and Terry were featured in an article in the Des Moines Register on Feb 4, 1962 (see photo in this listing) highlighting their interest and prowess in the hobby as youngsters. Gary traveled to various localities around the US as a teenager with his father (who worked in the tin industry), to personally collect specimens. He then attended the School of Mines in Golden, Colorado and graduated in 1967 with a degree in extractive metallurgical engineering. We went to work for Duval Corp at the Esperanza Mine south of Tucson, Arizona and then work for Cyprus Mines, Hazen Research, Pincock, Allen & Holt and the Colorado School of Mines Research Institute. His final job was in the mineral and environmental division of Intertek Testing Services of London, which owned the Canadian mineral testing company, Bonder Clegg. Gary's various jobs allowed him to travel the world and build his collection by buying a lot of specimens in person when they were coming out of the ground. Additionally, Terry's uncle was a miner in Creede, Colorado and later owned a rock shop which supplied Gary with specimens from the area. The specimens in this auction represent what Gary and Terry considered the "cream of the crop" of their collection.