important Crocoite (circa 1800's TYPE LOCALE) ex. Univ. of Pennsylvannia

Item Description

An important, old-time and large crocoite specimen from the famous Type Locality, the historic gold mines at Beresovsk. Highly lustrous, gemmy to translucent, rich orange-red terminated prisms, to 1.2 cm, are richly scattered on the matrix. Note the robust, sharp, stereotypic crystal habit so different from that which we normally see in the far more common Australian material. The matrix is listed as beresite on the labels, which is a low-temperature metasomatic rock characterised by quartz, sericite, carbonate (ankerite) and pyrite resulting from the replacement of both igneous and sedimentary protoliths. It may be associated with a variety of Au, Au-Ag, Ag-Pb and U ore mineralizations (MINDAT). This is a truly outstanding, historically important crocoite specimen with a fine provenance! The older labels from the University of Pennsylvania date to the 1800s (the oldest is of a style we have seen before in specimens from the collection of Sir Robert Ferguson (1769-1840), likely a dealer's script, from the 1700s or early 1800s). Ex Charles Noll Collection, a well-known Wisconsin collector who passed away in 2014. This exceptional piece would fit right into the recent excellent and extensive Beresovsk District article in the Mineralogial Record, July-August 2016, Vol. 47, No. 4. The mine on the labels is not listed in MINDAT or in the Mineralogical Record article. Valued $2000-2500.