Detailed information
Species
Galena, Sphalerite
Dimensions
96 x 76 x 48
mm
Locality
Eyam Derbyshire England
Condition
No recorded repairs
A superb and highly unusual group of lustrous octahedral Galena crystals, richly scattered over a plate of dull, granular-textured crystallized Sphalerite from the Eyam area of Derbyshire, England. Eyam, also known as "the plague village", has been a centre of lead mining since the Roman occupation and the numerous mines around the village have operated intermittently for over two thousand years. This is a very rare specimen of octahedral Galena from this ancient mining district and would grace any specialized collection of Derbyshire or British minerals. The metallic, lead-grey-silver, octahedral crystals are developed to 2.3 cm on edge and are built from stacked arrays of tiny cubic crystals. A delightful Derbyshire Galena on Sphalerite and certainly a cabinet specimen of museum quality. It is accompanied with a John Jones personal collection label and a label indicating it was display at an event held by The Russell Society in 1977. Any specimen from John Jones’ Collection always deserves a second look.