Orpiment

Item Description

In early 1999, an outstanding find of beautifully crystallized Orpiment specimens was made at Twin Creeks. This small cabinet is of high quality, with crystals up to 1 cm showing the brilliant luster, attractive orange color, and sharp striations that make these specimens so coveted. Orpiment is very soft, so the small amount of edgewear in not suprising, and it has little effect the the excellent aesthetics. According to Lees in The Mineralogical Record, vol. 31, pp 311 - 322, 331, this occurrence was completely mined out by late 1999. They are certainly the prettiest known for the species. This is an excellen texample in the size range with fiery color. Even at the time, this would have been expensive, in comparison to others that were more burnt orange or dull orange. Specimens of this quality sold for $1000-2000 even at the time they came out, and are seldom seen today compared to lesser quality examples of lower color saturation.