Rhodochrosite

Item Description

In the years around 1980, remarkable finds of shocking red rhodochrosite at the mines of the Kalahari Manganese Field literally shocked the mineral world. This specimen is from that core time, 1979-1982, when the best material came out. It has shocking cherry-red color - not strawberry, not wine-red, but cherry red! It features gemmy and translucent crystals to 2 cm, in a tight cluster. As with most such specimens, they were collected by miners unaware of the market for minerals, and in haste. Also, many crystals from atop had collapsed onto the crystals in bottom of the pocket, and so most specimens are, if inspected carefully, missing some terminations - this is no different and up close is a mix of complete and partial terminations. However, you have to look closely to notice. Interestingly, and unlike nearly all others, this specimen has a tiny secondary coating in some cracks and on some faces of minute micro crystals of quartz, like tiny specks of sugar. This adds a discernible sparkle to the piece! It is simply gorgeous when backlit. In person, with good lighting, it glows in a way we do not convey well on video or photo, with normal incident light. Lastly, this is from the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences collections (later, it was sold to Dr. Vasco Trancoso in Lisbon), and so they must have received it in donation sometime after it was found. Valued at $7500-9500. This specimen is part of the 2023 Dallas Mineral Collecting Symposium benefit auction and was donated by THE ARKENSTONE, with proceeds benefiting Mineralogical Record, Rocks & Minerals, Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, and mindat.org. Thanks to all of our participants!

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