Fluorite (classic locale) Barstow & Lemanski Coll.

Item Description

Remarkable, rich and RARE large two-sided rib of classic yellow fluorite crystals from the famous Hilton Mine. Highly desirable, glassy, gem golden-yellow penetration twins, to 2.7 cm, are very aesthetically scattered on the front of the plate on top of a dense field of an earlier generation of lighter yellow single cubes with milky interiors. The back side is festooned with slightly lighter yellow cubes with milky interiors. Yellow fluorite cubes from the Hilton Mine are much rarer and are highly desirable compared with purple and green varieties from Cumbria and Durham. The Hilton Mine was intermittently active from 1824-1919 for galena, witherite and barite. The mine was under lease, but finally abandoned in 1963 (MINDAT). We were told that most fluorite specimens were recovered in the 1960s and 1970s. Formerly from Richard Barstow, a prominent English field collector and dealer, according to Chet Lemanski's catalogue. Unfortunately, he died young at 35 in 1982. See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/barstowrichard-w/. Ex Chet Lemanski Collection and acquired in 1995. Bright blue-purple fluorescence! An outstanding, rich and rare large two-sided fluorite from the noted locale.