Pink Smithsonite. Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region, Namibia. ... (Total: 2 )

Description

Pink Smithsonite
Tsumeb Mine, Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region, Namibia

"A cluster of wall to wall intergrown slightly curved pink smithsonite crystals to about a half inch. The specimen is about 3.5 inches across. Bought this specimen from Jordan Zimmerman on a trip to Denver I made to see the new Tsumeb material that he had gotten. At the time I thought it was not worth the trip."
- Rock H. Currier

It seems that Pink Smithsonite is a lot like Rose Quartz: only one place does it well. When Tsumeb was being mined, nice specimens like this one were regularly being smuggled out in the lunch boxes of shift bosses and others who had daily contact with freshly blasted ore. Now that we have to content ourselves with the occasional specimen liberated from a collection, appreciation has taken an upturn. That this was starting as far back as the 1970s is evidenced by what Currier didn't say about buying this piece: "At the time I thought it was not worth the trip." Notice that he didn't say that "it wasn't worth the trip" Something changed his mind and that could only have been a change in his thinking about what prices such things were starting to command. What was probably a "courtesy buy" at the time is now a classic locality piece with an evaluation to match. There's a message in here, someplace. Comes with a custom acrylic base.
Overall Measurements: 3.8 x 2.7 x 1.4 inches (9.7 x 6.9 x 3.5 cm)
Weight: 277 grams
Offered at no reserve

Provenance: Purchased from Jordan Zimmermann [RHC #955, acquired 1968]

[Scale: 1 inch, with mark at 1 cm]

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