Silver (Ref: 326)

This is a superb and high aesthetic specimen of native Silver from the famous Himmelsfürst Mine of Brand-Erbisdorf near Freiberg. A classic German Silver, like one from Kongsberg across the Baltic, is a mainstay of a sophisticated collection of worldwide minerals. There are many small ones to be had, but larger and dramatic pieces like this small cab are few and far between. They really only turn up now as old collections are recycled. And here we have a great specimen with relatively thin but numerous wires with fine metallic sheen and a great patina. There is some debate about whether specimens are ´old´ or from re-mining of the old district during the Soviet era in the 1950s and early 1960s, and so without an old label nobody can say with certainty that this is old or relatively new. In any case, it is a magnificent specimen of this classic style, showing both the thin wires atop and the thick, curling, ropelike wires at the base that you want for contrast in a great silver specimen.