Fluorite (RARE Southern Illinois locality)

Item Description

While there are many well-known mines in the Rosiclare Mining Sub-District in Hardin County, Illinois for Fluorite (such as the Minerva #1, the Denton, the Annabel Lee, etc.), pieces from the lesser-known Knight Mine are virtually unseen on the market. This piece is certainly the best Fluorite we've ever had to offer from this mine, and it's a beautiful and showy large cabinet-sized piece to boot! Beautiful groups of tightly intergrown cubes of a gentle lavender hue cover 2/3 of the display side of the specimen, which are associated with soft beige colored trigonal Calcite crystals on the other end. I'm amazed that the piece is in such great condition, as the main / front face is virtually pristine, and the only "damage" is around the lower periphery where the piece was separated from the pocket wall. Upon close inspection, I can see a few scattered brassy Chalcopyrite crystals for a nice touch. If you collect Fluorites from Southern Illinois, this is a significant locality specimen, and impossible to replace in today's market now that all mining in the area has been completely shut down.
Valued $5,000.
From the collection of Albert M. “Al” Liebetrau (1938-2023) and Suzanne "Sue" Liebetrau (# FL 861).
Both Al and Sue were from Wisconsin originally, but lived in various places in the US and Europe, eventually ending up in Oregon. Al was a teacher (from high school to the university level) and statistician with degrees in math and statistics, and Sue taught English and worked as a technical editor for Battelle Memorial Institute. While Al has since passed away, Sue is still a very active member of the mineral collecting community. The Liebetraus were married for over 60 years (they were married in 1960) and assembled a world-class collection of fine quality crystallized display specimens, along with one of the great fluorescent mineral collections in the United States. Incidentally, Al was the former president of the Fluorescent Mineral Society, and was the main person in charge of putting together the massive number of displays at the 2021 Tucson Show (fluorescent minerals was the theme that year).
Mineral specimens from their collection have won multiple awards at various shows, including the prestigious Lidstrom Trophy for the best mineral specimen at the TGMS Show in Tucson, along with the Desautels Trophy for the best case. Additionally, the Liebetraus were awarded the Romero Award for best Mexican specimen, and the Bideaux Trophy for best Arizona specimen.
You can read more about Al and Sue and their lives at the following link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00357529.2023.2236000