Description
Barite from Wieden in the southern reaches of the Black Forest in Germany’s southwest are actually nothing unusual, but this unique find was completely out of line and, most likely, will not be repeated. In the early 1960s, an approximately 10 m long cleft on the Neue Hoffnung (New Hope) Vein of the Anton Mine was opened, that contained caramel-brown, thick-tabular and cockscomb-shaped Barite crystals to 10 cm long. Even at the time of mining, these specimens achieved astronomical prices on the collectors’ market by the standards of the time and good pieces like this one have disappeared from the market.