Geode with Sphalerite (RARE), Baryte & Quartz

Item Description

These quartz geodes are classic for old Midwest collections but we seldom see them out of the Ohio and Indiana region for sale, and they were collected in roadcuts that are no longer accessible. Sphalerite is VERY RARE in the geodes found in the well-known limestone roadcuts South of Bloomington, Indiana. A 1.2 x 1.2 cm, lustrous black sphalerite crystal with subtle rubyjack areas under bright light is smartly perched on the edge of a fortuitously cracked hollow geode. Both halves are lined with sparkly druzy quartz with the sphalerite half also a hosting a 5.0 cm field of small bone-white baryte blades. This is definitely one of the more RARE and interesting pieces from the locale, due to the sphalerite and baryte in the geode, and that it is a complete geode. Specimens were intermittently collected from the roadcuts from the 1960s into the 2000s. A USA classic from the broad and important collections of Dick Hauck, founder and owner of the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in New Jersey.