Microcline var: Amazonite with Albite

Item Description

Amazonite is the blue-green variety of the feldspar species Microcline, and most people would agree that the finest examples are those from the Pikes Peak Batholith in central Colorado. The various pegmatites for decades have yielded impressive crystals in their size, color and quality, and they are still being found today. This piece is a wonderfully big and eye-catching cabinet display specimen featuring two prominent, sharp, well-formed, blocky prismatic crystals of vibrant greenish-blue colored Amazonite measuring up to 7.7 cm long, sitting atop beige colored Albite matrix. Contemporary Amazonite specimens are often repaired, sometimes with many crystals reconstructed back together, but the older material like this piece (it was purchased in 1989), are often "as is", with no repairs, which is certainly the case for this specimen. The piece displays wonderfully and the two big crystals can be positioned in a few directions for optimal viewing, and you rarely see crystals of this size on the newer Amazonite that are coming out. A fantastic overall representation of these iconic and classic pieces from one of the most famous specimen-producing areas in Colorado.
Valued $5,000-$6,000.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 315.2 CO.1; 0593 George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information