Galena (rare cuboctahedral habit) (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

Please note that this specimen was labeled as coming from Brand-Langenau in Saxony, which is now Langenau (Brand-Erbisdorf), a village in the borough of Brand-Erbisdorf, in the county of Mittelsachsen, Saxony. This piece might very well be from the famous Himmelsfurst Mine which did produce some attractive Galena specimens in its day. The most important aspect of this piece is the fact that the Galena crystals are cuboctahedral in habit, which is rare in nature, as it takes a high amount of heat and pressure for Galena to form octahedral crystals. Many sharp, well-formed, silvery-grey colored Galena crystals measuring up to 1.1 cm are sitting on a layer of tan Siderite on host rock matrix. The combination of the Galena with Siderite like this from Germany might remind one of the famous pieces from Neudorf, but this is distinctly different due to the habit. I can't see any real damage of note on the top / display side of the piece, only a bit of contacts on the underside where it was removed from the pocket wall. A really cool Galena for any fan of sulfides, German minerals or rare crystal habits in minerals. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#9374). Kay was a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics. She nearly lived 100 years from April 1920 - March 2020. See the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record ( https://www.mineralogicalrecord.com/pdfs/Kay%20Robertson%20Collection.pdf ), and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017.