Strontianite with Fluorite (ex Henry de Linde Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful association specimen from the famous Minerva No. 1 Mine in Southern Illinois featuring attractive, prismatic, gemmy, lustrous, straw yellow to golden-brown colored groups of Strontianite measuring up to 2.3 cm long associated with very dark purple colored cubes of Fluorite measuring up to 1.3 cm on edge on matrix. Overall, the piece is in excellent condition, with only a small amount of roughness here and there. It's not common to find showy and aesthetic cabinet sized display pieces of this material, and the association of the two species is not very easy to find from this now completely defunct locality. Based upon the style of the specimen, it looks like it was mined circa 1960s-1970s. Hard to photograph, but eye-catching in person. Valued at $700-$900 based upon the aesthetics and the fact that they are difficult to find on the market these days. From the collection of Henry de Linde (March 21, 1923 – April 4, 2019) of Hot Spring, Arkansas. Henry was one of the most prominent figures in the history of Arkansas mining and mineral collecting. Along with being a miner, mineral collector and an amateur mineralogist, de Linde was one of the founders of the Coon Creek Association mineral club. He was the owner of several key localities in Arkansas including the Diamond Jo Quarry (on the south rim of Magnet Cove), the type locality for Delindeite, which was named in his honor in 1987.