Smithsonite (ex Obodda specimen)

Item Description

This piece comes to us with labels from the well-known dealers Herb Obodda and John Veevaert (Trinity Mineral Company) stating that it is from "Altenberg, near Aachen, Germany", but it's actually from Altenberg, Belgium.   Special thanks to Ed Rosenzweig for clearing up the matter, "The smithsonite specimen in the current auction is almost certainly from Altenberg, now Vielle Montagne, in Belgium.  Aachen is just over the border in Germany, and they were both part of Rhenish Prussia during the period when the mine was most active.  This is a very common problem with these old smithsonite specimens."

This attractive thumbnail features sharp, gemmy, soft yellow colored crystal clusters sitting atop host rock matrix. The luster, form and overall appearance of the piece is very pleasing and would make a nice addition to any thumbnail suite or a collection of Smithsonites.