Description
Very beautiful Scepter Quartz on-matrix specimen from the classic Slovakian locality Schemnitz-Banská Štiavnica where Gold and Silver mining started in the early Middle Ages, followed later by mining for Lead, Copper and Zinc. The colorless to whitish Quartz crystals with visible short prismatic stems are sharp, and gemmy translucent with only minor imperfections. The specimen is in very good condition, probably found during the active mining days. I estimate that the specimen, which is from the E. Kretschmer collection is certainly 100 years old. Precious metals recovery in the area was suspended after 1947 while base metal extraction continued until 1992. Since 2015, however, about an 100 km2 area with a dozen of the old mining sites is prospected for Gold and Silver ores.