Sphalerite (gemmy crystals) with Galena

Item Description

A big showy Sphalerite specimen from the Commodore Mine in Creede. This piece is from more contemporary mining, as it was collected by George Hurd with his friend Ken Wiley in 2016. Creede probably has produced more gem grade Sphalerite than any other area in Colorado, but the crystals are typically only a few centimeters, but the main crystal on this piece is a whopping 4.2 cm on edge (but nearly 5.5 cm across at its widest dimension), making it one of the biggest we can recall having to offer from the locality. Not only is the crystal impressive for its size, but it's also sharp, well-formed and GEMMY to boot. It's rare to find a Sphalerite of this size that actually passed light, but this one, along with several of the smaller accompanying Sphalerites, show a beautiful greenish-golden hue internally when backlit. Associated dull grey cubic Galena can be seen on the piece as well for a great touch, along with a tiny bit of reddish Hematite staining in a few spots. Remarkably, the piece is in very good condition, as I can't find any major damage on the front/display side, though it is contacted on the back where it was separated from the pocket wall. A really first-rate display piece of these classic and iconic Sphalerites from Creede.
Valued $2,500-$3,000.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 2621 CO.38; 10,103. 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