Description

This dark-golden barite is sharp and glassy with excellent translucence. There are barite overgrowths on either side of the “top” termination which almost meet in the middle – if they did, this would be a full sceptre. Similarly, the front-facing prism face has sceptre-like overgrowth. Under good display lighting this crystal glows as the light plays within it. In excellent condition, no damage except one small chip at upper right (very small relative to the crystal, not distracting). There is some contacting at lower front and at the back, and, as with other crystals from this find, the underside shows crystallization textures indicating that the crystal detached from the host rock late in the crystallization process. A beautiful  barite crystal!

(Note: in the first photos you can see the back face through the crystal, because it has been specifically illuminated with a strong reflector to give a sense of the crystal’s clarity/translucence.)