International Minerals #29

A 9 cm crystal of azurite pseudomorphed by tennantite, that is truly quite impressive size! Two different shades of greenish coatings, probably rosasite and malachite, add a pleasing contrast. Ex Hilde Könighofer coll.

Dendritic copper crystals resting on mother rock. Ex Hilde Könighofer coll.

This is a very impressive cluster of two huge v-shaped amethyst crystals. From a one-time find at Turt mine, they still remain the largest amethysts ever to come from northern Romanian mining regions. The pocket had collapsed in situ and hence the crystals were unfortunately found in slightly damaged condition. Both crystal tips have a little restoration here, as all of these do. Still one of the very best pieces coming from that famous pocket! Ex Oliver Konczer collection.

Tabular wulfenite crystals up to 22 mm on edge sitting on white calcite and dolomite matrix. No damage on the main crystals. Ex Alfred Haas coll.

Lovely brown-yellowish-green titanite twins standing in perfect position on calcite and albite matrix. Great aesthetics, no significant damage. Ex Alfred Haas coll.

Wonderful wulfenite crystals featuring deep orange colour and great luster on black mother rock. The colour is definitely much better in person! Coming with an old label indicating that the piece was collected in 1996.

White barites on massive yellowish-brown sphalerite. A couple corners show excellent translucency. Ex Colorem and Hilde Könighofer collections.

A special columnar shape with predominating scalenohedral faces towards the end points made these calcites from Bigrigg Mine famous all over the world. They became classics and rank among the best samples of the species. This particular specimen has been in the personal collection of Hilde Könighofer for many years, and she made a wonderful water-colour painting of that piece which is illustrated on page 147 of her book "Mineralienbilder". Great aesthetics and provenance! Due to an iron staining some of the crystals show a beautiful pinkish hue.

Frosted white and elongated calcite crystals resting on large and massive black super-glossy sphalerites, what a great contrast! Ex Anton Berger and Oliver Konczer collections.

WOW! What an amazing bicolour tourmaline crystal showing a fantastic chatoyancy! No repair, no restoration, no damage of significance. The lower half is wrapped in nicely contrasting lepidolite crystals. Ex Alfred Haas collection.

What an amazing barite crystal resting on mother rock. The perfectly balanced composition and the zoning along the crystal edges make this truly an outstanding specimen. No significant damage to report. Ex Oliver Konczer coll.

The Serifos Island in Greece is probably the best locality of true apple-green prase quartz specimens in the entire world. This particular specimen is a great example which suggests why this is the case. The perfect, sharp, translucent quartz needles are connected into a stunning cluster. The small cabinet specimen is a significant piece for any serious quartz collector.