Pyromorphite var. Arsenian ex Bob Hopper collection

Item Description

This is a uniquely shapely, gorgeous, intensely colored pyromorphite from the heyday discovery of the mine, the single best pocket in the world of arsenian orange pyromorphite, found in the mid 1990s. It has a luster and color combination that, truly, makes you look twice and think it might be polished or sprayed - but it is natural luster. It is so beautiful, in fact, that it is one of the 100 or so specimens that the mine owner, Bob Hopper, kept in his own office in his personal collection for decades after the find. There is a long story to this which is too hard to tell again, from my side, as it is one in which my friend Fran and I jointly obtained this directly from the mine owner on a crazy visit back around 2005 or so. It masses about 1.9 kilos now, and was a bit heavier at the time we bought it together, but Fran carried the damned thing on the airplane with him back home to DC anyways. It is nearly pristine, by the way, with just a few small rubs despite its large size and they are not easily visible without looking for them - remarkable condition actually, for this size. This was one of his absolute favorite specimens in the collection, in part because of the thrill of the chase and where we got it from, at the mine location. The specimen is simply shocking to look at - there is no other way to say it. It is complicated and some would say jumbled in appearance initially, but somehow it works to create what really looks like a piece of 3-dimensional art. It is big and showy and just different than all others, which is why Fran negotiated it into a deal as his "keeper" when we did with the mine owner for cherry picking his collection together, back at that time. I do not know if the video can convey it, but just imagine that any color and sparkle you see is the real deal. The specimen was valued at $25-35,000 for guidance. The whole story of Fran's acquisition of this piece is told here, in our blog article: https://www.irocks.com/wisdom-pocket-blog-irocks-arkenstone-mineral-news