Valentinite (rare - excellent quality)

Item Description

In the summer of 2011, there was an important and significant discovery of the highly sought after Valentinite specimens. For essentially 60 years nothing of value in terms of Valentinite specimens came out of this mine. The best specimen of the old material (found in the 1950s) is in the Houston Museum and formerly belonged to Ed Swoboda. The best miniature of these older specimens was famously in the collection of Richard Kosnar, and now resides in the Steve Smale collection. Although the San Jose Mine dates back to 1595 in the old Spanish records, the native Incans mined there for many centuries prior. The locality was known almost exclusively as a Silver producer, but in the last 20 years or so, San Jose has produced the finest Andorite crystals extant, the finest known crystals of Potosiite, and the most impressive large twinned Ferrokesterites ever seen just to name a few of its major discoveries. The only contemporary Valentinites to come out in the last 40 years or so were those from Colavi, but they don't stand up to the finest pieces from San Jose. The 2011 discovery was impressive for the mine and species. This particular piece is a very nice example of this rare antimony oxide. It features a few very sharp, gemmy to translucent, semi lustrous, silvery to straw colored bladed crystals sitting on Pyrite matrix. I love how the color changes from the silvery-straw color along the prisms to more of a saturated golden-caramel hue on the terminations. The largest crystals measures 1.5 cm and they are all in great condition as far as I can see with the naked eye. A great chance to have a matrix specimen of a very hard to find mineral from one of the most notable localities in Bolivia. Species collectors out there should jump on this one, but worldwide collectors should not pass it up either. Valued at $900 in the inventory.