Stilbite on Schist (rare) (ex Richard A. Kosnar Collection)

Item Description

When people think of Stilbites, what often comes to mind is crystals on basalt from trap rock deposits, but how often have you seen crystals of Stilbite on MICA SCHIST? The limited number of specimens from the Thomaston Dam railroad cut in Connecticut have to be some of the most interesting and unqiue Stilbites from any locality in the Western Hemisphere. This particular piece came out in 1964 and was part of the famous worldwide Zeolite collection of Richard A. Kosnar (the namesake for Kosnarite). The piece hosts fine quality, soft creamy-beige colored "sheaves" of Stilbite measuring up to 2.2 cm long sitting on layer of sparkling Quartz on a thick layer of Mica Schist matrix. Most of the crystals are undamaged, but my favorite aspect of the piece is the fact that they are well ISOLATED, which is not common for this material as they often formed in clusters, so it was difficult to differentiate individual crystals. Also, it's not terribly common to find Stilbites ON matrix from this locality, as many pieces I've seen obviously fell off the slick Schist matrix. I love the fact that the crystals have a shimmering vitreous luster and they're not the least bit dull, pitted or "dingy" looking like some I've seen from the locality. This is a fine quality, near large cabinet sized specimen of this hard to find material and would make a great addition to a worldwide Zeolite suite, a collection of New England minerals or just interesting / oddball specimens from the United States. Valued at $1400 in the inventory.