Enargite (LARGE crystals)

Item Description

Butte Enargites are celebrated as some of the finest examples of the species ever seen. Typically, crystals measure in the 1-2 cm range, but this piece features exceptionally LARGE crystals up to a whopping 5.2 cm, showing superb crystal form with excellent luster and sharpness, with that classic dark steel-black hue. Minor accenting Pyrite can be seen on the piece, though it's largely solid Enargite. Now the piece is not completely undamaged, as there are some contacted areas and separation marks, but what matters here is that the crystals are among the largest I've seen from the Leonard Mine, and should be appreciated for that aspect. You would be hard-pressed to find another Enargite with crystals this size available anywhere else on the market. The piece was originally priced at $750 retail over 20 years ago, and I would put it in the $4,000-$5,000 range today
This specimen was originally in the collection of Marion Stuart, noted collector from Sun Valley Idaho, and prior in the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, by way of T. Larson.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 6079; 3322 MT.6. George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information