Stilbite (bow tie) with Prehnite (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

The historic Upper New Street Quarry in Paterson, New Jersey dates back over 100 years to 1893, but it didn't operate continuously. There was a period during the mid 1980s to early 1990s, when a lot of collecting took place between the Upper New Street and Lower Street Quarries in an area that is affectionately referred to by some as "Middle New Street". The majority of the specimens from this area are still labeled as being found at Upper New Street even though they were not found in the quarry itself. This piece was collected on October 18, 1987 and according to the accompanying label states that it was only 1 of 3 pieces recovered from a small pocket. The piece features a good sized, very lustrous, translucent, soft golden-brown colored "bow tie"-shaped aggregate of Stilbite which is associated with minor very pale green colored Prehnite. The label states that this association is uncommon from this locality. A very good quality and eye-catching specimen from one of the great trap rock localities in Northern New Jersey. From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired, but among other things, he was the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures". The piece was given to Dave as a gift by his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar and the hand-written label from Kosnar accompanies the piece.