Osmium var. Iridosmine (old - rare)

Item Description

Iridosmine is a rare variety of osmium rich in iridium (in which the individual bits are either more osmium or more iridium-rich individually). Four, very large for the species, silvery grains (to 4 mm) are in the bottom of this glass vial. This is a little hoard of this rarity and is seldom available in any quantity from any locality. The pieces are probably from the Urals of Russia, due to the large grain size, but could be from California. If from Russia, this is old-time material that undoubtedly dates to Imperial Russia times, prior to World War I.