Fluorite (rare locale) ex Ross Lillie Coll.

Item Description

A VERY RARE and sculptural old-time fluorite and calcite combination from the famous Spar Mountain area of the Cave-in-Rock District. Deep grape-purple to violet-blue fluorite cubes with matte luster faces are aesthetically intergrown on the plate. The impressive dominating large cubes reach 2.5 x 2.1 x 2.0 cm. A cluster of "amorphous" calcite crystals is a RARE accessory. Bright light and backlighting reveals, that smaller translucent cubes have beautiful sharp violet color-zoning and even the larger cubes are moderately translucent with color-zoning. The Crystal Mine operated from 1934 to 1976. Documented specimens from the mine are extremely rare. The etched spar on the back and amorphous calcite indicate the locality, according to the note on the back Ross Lillie's Collection label RCL 2213 and collected circa 1930s.  "Great location & very fine piece", according to Ross. ADDITIONALLY , MR. LILLIE HAS JUST COMMUNICATED WITH US THE FOLLOWING: It is from the old zones, but it was collected in a lucky find in the last ten years or so (before he sold the collection , so perhaps circa 2005-2015) from old workings exposed in (modern) quarry operations.... He also corrected the exact Mine in the Spar Mountain deposit to say "Victory Mine" instead of simply "Crystal Mine," although the lodes likely overlap underground. See the fine 1997 Mineralogical Record article on the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorite District Vol. 28, No. 1.