Goethite (great quality) with Smoky Quartz and ''Onegite'' (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

Goethite is not a species that most people associated with excellent crystallized specimens, but pieces from the Pikes Peak region are arguably the best representations of the species in my mind. Keep in mind that a lot of Goethite on the market is either massive / uncrystallized or reniform / botryoidal, so actual crystals are RARE. This is a wonderful display piece filled with excellent, sharp, lustrous, golden-black colored "blades" Goethite forming "spray"-like crystallized group with associated prismatic crystals of Smoky Quartz and smaller accenting crystals of "Onegite" (Quartz / Amethyst with Goethite inclusions). The largest Goethite blade measures approximately 2.1 cm, and the largest "Onegite" is about 3-4 mm. A fantastic specimen with superb quality and aesthetics. This is something that most collectors don't even think about adding to their collections because it's a "black rock", but when you take the superior crystallization into account, you realize that these are some of the best crystallized representations of the species extant! Lastly, the pronunciation of this species is a bit confusing, but we like to point out that it was named after the famous German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, so it is properly pronounced GER-tite (with a hard "g" like gold). The piece comes from the famous Clarence Coil Claim on Yucca Hill (which now has the sterile name of "NC No. 1 Claim" on mindat.org) and comes from the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired from mining, but spent many years underground, including as the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures". The piece was given to Dave as a gift by his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar who mined the piece in the early 1980s.