Prehnite ps. Calcite

Item Description

Prehnite is one species often underappreciated and undervalued by collectors because it so rarely occurs as large sharp crystals, or with sparkle. Here is nature's solution to that dilemma, an old style that came out in the early years of Indian exports (1980s), in which these sparkling apple green prehnites that you see formed as beautiful sharp crystals: as cast-replacements after original crystals of calcite. To make it even better, and prettier, a secondary coating of prehnite in the form of sugary small sparkles, formed atop the cast replacements. So this is prehnite, on top of prehnite that has replaced calcites (a pseudomorph). These only turn up in old collections. It is a large, showy, extremely rich plate with apple green color! This phenomenon of replacement of calcite by beautiful prehnite, in this quality, only was found a few times in India and in what I believe was a single old pocket in South Africa as well. It is hard to value specimens like this, as they simply do not turn up often. And, it is a large, showy, display quality specimen with such nice geometries on its own merits, regardless of the additional info above.