Turquoise (classic material)

Item Description

A lovely old-time specimen of Turquoise from the Mona Lisa Mine in Arkansas. This particular specimen was mined by Jack McBride in the 1970s, and was purchased by Rich Kosnar shortly after it was found. The Mona Lisa Mine has gained recent notoriety due to recent mining operations which have produced a good amount of material, including the largest nugget of Turquoise ever found in the United States (weighing roughly 245 pounds). One of the most desirable aspects of Mona Lisa Turquoise is that the material is typically free of white crazing, spider web patterns, or cracks that is found in Turquoise from the southwestern United States. This piece is a great example of the old material featuring a very pleasing pure blue color (with virtually no green overtone) which can be seen on all sides of the specimen, intergrown with the host rock matrix. A very attractive piece of this desirable material from a locality that in recent years has produced some excellent pieces of Turquoise.
From the collection of the well-known mineral dealer Richard ("Rich") A. Kosnar (1946-2007). Rich was born in New Jersey, but spent most of his life in Colorado, and was the namesake for the phosphate Kosnarite (a rare honor for a mineral dealer).