Rhodochrosite with Quartz

Item Description

This specimen is part of the 2020 Dallas Mineral Collecting Symposium benefit auction, with proceeds benefiting Mineralogical Record, Rocks & Minerals, Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, and mindat.org. Thanks to all of our participants!

Billing for this auction will occur on Monday, August 24, for payment using PayPal or credit card. Shipping will be billed at cost, or please contact brandy@mineralauctions.com if you'd like to plan on picking up items at future shows or during a stop through Dallas.

Click here for a video of this specimen!

A fine miniature of classic late 1990s Sweet Home rhodochrosite, often simply too expensive to put into auctions but donated for this event. It is a balanced piece, with two sharp and isolated crystals measuring 2.3 and 2.1 cm across, nicely set apart on matrix. The color is good and the luster is perhaps in the 80 percentile, certainly better than most - but hard to convey in flat photos if we want to also convey the translucency and color. These photos show it with minimal lighting, and in fact they are generally more red in dimmed light. While common enough in this size range, prices often run $4000-5000 for such specimens - or even more depending on who is doing the selling. And, even within the size and price range, this has a special quality because of the complete isolation and separation of these two sharp, undamaged, terminated crystals on contrasting white matrix. Photo by Jingnan Zhang. Donated by Brian and Angela Kosnar.