Rhodochrosite

Item Description

The famed Sweet Home Mine in central Colorado is one of the premier localities in the world. It is renowned for its world-class Rhodochrosites, which are among the finest examples of this beloved manganese carbonate in existence. The mine has existed since the late 1800s, but specimen recovery operations didn't start until 1977 when Rich Kosnar was the first to start mining for specimens, and then it transitioned to Collector's Edge in the 1990s. This piece is a fantastic example from the famed Hedgehog Pocket at the Sweet Home (mined between August 7-20, 1996) which produced beautiful richly colored crystals. A full coverage of strong pink-red colored, sharp, lustrous, gemmy rhombs measuring up to 1.7 cm can be seen on the display side of the specimen, with minor associated white Quartz crystals and a bit of sulfides (Pyrite and Tetrahedrite) on the back. A good percentage of the crystals are undamaged, though a few rough spots can be seen, mostly around the periphery where the piece was removed from the pocket wall.
Valued $20,000-$25,000.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 14.1.1.4 CO.5; 0013. George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information