Sphalerite with Chalcopyrite and Amethyst

Item Description

The Commodore Mine in Creede, Colorado is one of the most well-known localities in the district, dating back to the late 1800s as an excellent silver producer, but in more recent years, has been a source of attractive specimens thanks to new mining operations. This piece is an alluring and beautiful association specimen featuring sharp, well-formed, gemmy, greenish-yellow to golden-amber colored crystals of Sphalerite measuring up to 1.4 cm on edge, associated with several oxidized / iridescent brassy colored crystals of Chalcopyrite measuring up to about 1.2 cm, along with small light grey cubic crystals of Galena, which are all coated by a beautiful drusy layer of medium purple colored Amethyst to create a dazzling effect. Although Amethyst is not considered a rare mineral, it's really only seen from Creede in association with sulfides like this, and these pieces are iconic and desirable among collectors for their inherent beauty. It's nearly a large cabinet sized piece, and it's in great condition overall, with very little damage I can find. Striking in person and good quality all around.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 2621 CO.25; 8251. 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