Kermesite (rare locale) (ex Francesco Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

A classic, old time, hard to find specimen of Kermesite with Stibnite from the famous Neue Hoffnung Gottes Mine in Saxony. This mine is the type locality for sulfosalts like Miargyrite and Diaphorite, but it's also the type locality for Kermesite! The species gets its name from the word "kermes ", deriving from the Persian qurmizq, for "crimson", as these crystals exhibit an intense red/crimson color under strong lighting. Even though the crystals may look metallic in reflected light, this is one of the few sulfides that actually shows color when backlit! This specimen hosts a few beautiful crystallized "sprays of good quality, thin, prismatic, sharp, lustrous, metallic/translucnet "needles with silvery-grey Stibnite on Quartz on matrix. Crystals measure up to 7 mm. RARE material from this old mine in Germany that dates back to 1802 (according to the literature). From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #1229). Bedogne wrote dozens of articles and several books about the mineralogy of Italian Alpine localities such as Val Bregaglia, Val Masino, Val Codera, Val Spluga, Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco. He was also the founder of the Valtellinese Mineralogical Institute.