Fluorite with Barite (RARE locality specimen) (ex Rich Kosnar and William Sanborn Collections)

Item Description

A very hard to find old time specimen from the lesser-known Gold King Mine in La Plata County, Colorado. This miniature sized specimen hosts sharp, soft golden colored, lustrous, translucent, cubic crystals of Fluorite measuring up to 8 mm on edge with minor white Barite on host rock matrix. Most of the Fluorites are in good condition, though there are few small rough spots here and there. You never see specimens from this mine on the market, and this particular piece dates back many decades (at least until the 1970s), as the label states it was collected off of the dumps of the upper workings. This specimen comes from the collection of Richard Kosnar (1946-2007), well-known mineral dealer and collector from Colorado, and the namesake for the phosphate species, Kosnarite. Kosnarite obtained the piece from the collection of William Sanborn (1925-1981), and his collection number #3516 can be see attached to the bottom of the piece. I would put a retail value of about $800 on this one for the rare locality alone. If you collect worldwide Fluorites or minerals of Colorado, this is an important locality specimen, and you may never see another one like it, so don't miss out.