Pyromorphite (excellent historic specimen) (ex Rich Kosnar Collection and George English Specimen)

Item Description

For years, collectors and dealers would refer to these old classic Pyromorphite as coming from "Bad Ems", which is about 5 km away from the actual mine. In fact, if you look at the locality listing now on mindat.org, Bad Ems isn't even included in the locality listing anymore. With that said, these are certainly in the highest echelon of Pyromorphites on a worldwide scale as they are some of the most well-known and celebrated examples of the species ever found. Many people think that the Friedrichssegen Mine is the type locality for Pyromorphite, but it's actually the lesser known Zschopau area in Saxony where the species was first discovered. This piece is a fantastic example of this beloved material and comes with excellent pedigree. The piece comes to us from the collection of Richard Kosnar, the famous mineral dealer and collector (and the namesake for the phosphate species Kosnarite), who loved classic European minerals like this. The specimen comes with a fantastic old hand-written label from George English, one of the great US mineral dealers of the late 1800s-early 1900s. English's label has the address from 733 & 735 Broadway, which dates it back from June 1891 to December 1892! This piece is at least 130 years old, and the earliest reports of the mine that I can find date back to the 1860s, so the piece could well be over 150 years old. This showy and aesthetic display specimen is loaded with excellent, sharp, lustrous smoky-brown to pinkish-brown colored hexagonal prismatic crystals measuring up to about 7 mm forming a three-dimensional and graceful overall specimen. There are actually some slightly skeletal or "hoppered" crystals on the piece, which is the classic form for the locality. The specimen is complete all around and is in great shape overall, with only a few imperfections here and there. A lot of these specimens will be riddled with tiny nicks all over, and this one is certainly better by comparison. These piece are few and far between, and are treasured as some of the most beloved Pyromorphites from Europe. Don't miss out on this wonderful, historic and beautiful piece of this famous material. Priced in the inventory at $5,000.