Galena with Quartz

Item Description

A large (750-gram), hefty specimen of STUNNING geometrical complexity. This galena specimen is composed of dozens of sharp, stepped, spinel-twinned crystals in parallel growths, staggered one after another in a line down the piece from end to end. Decorating the backsides, and poking up beyond the backs of nearly each and every galena twin, are sharp milky quartz crystals. At first glance, all the twins of galena, and any major quartz, are pristine. There is on close inspection only a small amount of edge wear. Despite the seemingly fragile look of the piece, it is actually quite sturdy and robust, and it just looks more elegant than its heft indicates. I have seen literally TONNAGE of galena from this mining district during its heyday of the late 90s and early 2000s, and material is a lot more scarce nowadays. I understand very little comes out now. Of all I have seen, even in the good times, this piece would stand out as a superlative, and very uniquely styled, specimen. I recently obtained it in trade from a major European collection, and it is valued at $1500-2000