Witherite with Fluorite
Minerva #1 Mine
Hardin County, Illinois
ex. William A. Wilson Collection
12.4 cm x 8.24 cm x 5.89 cm, 626 g.
Here is a wonderful, cabinet size specimen of this not so common mineral.
You don't often see such a large grouping of crystals on a single specimen.
The Witherite is translucent to transparent in areas, beautifully twinned and stacked in such a large grouping.
Across the top of the specimen is what looks like a crown of well etched,
golden yellow fluorite that has bands of etched light purple fluorite crystals running through it.
The weight of the specimen is surprising, as it is much heavier that it appears.
This specimen is highly fluorescent and has such a great look.
Under Longwave UV lighting, the witherite is bright white,
while the yellow fluorite looks pink in color,
with two bands of intense purple through it from the light purple fluorite.
What little matrix is present on the backside, has signs of sphalerite and chalcopyrite within it.
Overall a very unique specimen of these minerals from this older and well known collection.
