old English Barite with phantoms

Item Description

This label dates the piece to 1899-1901 (according to label archives at the Mineralogical Record site) though it possibly was mined even earlier. It is a complete crystal of sharply phantomed barite, the style of which I find highly unusual and impactful. I have not seen another like this. The 6-cm crystal is fat, sharp, and brightly lustrous. It is highly translucent as you see. It is not broken at the base, but rather contacted where other crystals were once attached. We have all seen many old English barites...but not like this! Valued $2000-2500