Detailed information
Species
Galena, Siderite, Quartz
Dimensions
50 x 83 x 37
mm
Weight
266 g
Locality
Freiberg Erzgebirge, Saxony Germany
Condition
No recorded repairs
This small cabinet specimen has seen some history and is the sort of specimen which might get overlooked were it not for the original labels kept with it. It comprises small, fudge-coloured Siderite crystals, scattered upon modified cubo-octahedral Galena crystals with Quartz. It is from Freiberg, a historically important mining town in Saxony, Germany, but one of the older labels accompanying the specimen has not only the feel of significant age, but the language too - using very old mineralogical terms, but in both German and French. Bley-schweif for example is an early spelling of Bleischweif, a German term for fine-grained Galena used from the 1750s until the early 1800s. Plomb Sulfure cubo-octaedre is an early French term for Galena crystallized in cubo-octahedral crystals, and fer spathique is the French for Siderite. This type of Siderite was certainly known from Freyberg in 1802, and possibly earlier, and with some detailed research the full background to this label could be deciphered. Ex Martin and Michael Günther (1951-2007 & 1956-2021) collection.