Pyrite with Quartz (ex Richard Kosnar Collection)

Item Description

Now this may look like a simple Pyrite with Quartz specimen, but in truth it's one of the best examples of this material that I've ever seen from this famous old mine. The piece was collected in 1979 when the San Jose Mine was producing a lot of attractive mineral specimens. This piece is loaded with dozens if not hundreds of brilliant, superb quality, razor-sharp, textbook, metallic golden octahedral crystals of Pyrite measuring up to about 3 mm which are associated with beautiful little "bursts" of translucent white Quartz crystals sitting on solid Pyrite matrix. Typically, these specimens would have featured crystals of Augelite, but I can't find a single one on this piece. What makes this one so good is that it's in top shape with virtually no damage on the display side whatsoever, which is kind of a big deal with you're dealing with cabinet sized pieces from Bolivia, as the collecting methods don't often lend to pristine specimens. The piece also has a bit of three-dimensional depth to it, so it's not just a flat plate of crystals. Additionally, it's rare to find octahedral Pyrite like this from Bolivia as there are only a few localities that produce good crystals of this particular habit. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the piece is the fact that when you flip it over, the habit of the Pyrite crystals is DIFFERENT as the octahedrons feature cubic modifications. It's rare in my experience from any locality to find two different habits of Pyrite on opposite sides of the same piece. This is a must have specimen if you're a fan of sulfide specimens, Bolivian minerals or association pieces. From the collection of Richard Kosnar, the well-known dealer and collector from Colorado who imported minerals from Bolivia for a few decades. Kosnar was the namesake of the phosphate species, Kosnarite.