Manganite w/ Baryte (old classic circa 1880s) Dr. Tom Campbell Coll.

Item Description

Manganite specimens from the extinct mines at Ilfeld are a European classic and are easily the finest examples of the species in the world. Crystals are renowned for sharp prismatic form, high lustre and well-striated prism faces. This very rich and showy blocky small cabinet is festooned with lustrous jet-black prisms nicely accompanied by a typical and contrasting 2.0 cm cluster of blocky barite. The dominating large manganite crystal is about 1.8 cm tall. The dense jackstraw intergrowth of the crystals is notable. Yes, the sides are contacted, but are certainly only a modest detraction in context of the quality and quantity here. These old pieces came out in about 1865-1890. See the excellent Mineralogical Record article in 2010 Vol. 41, No. 6. Ex Tom Campbell Collection. This is superb for the size range and would easily be valued $2000-2500 if seen at a European show where they more often turn up out of old collections.