Silver on Copper: Mohawk mine, Keweenaw County, Michigan USA

Description

Species: Silver, Copper

Locality: First Level, Mohawk Mine, Mohawk, Keweenaw Co., Michigan, USA

Dimensions: 6 x 5.2 x 4.5 cm.

RESERVED

Crystallized silver specimens from Michigan’s rugged Keweenaw Peninsula have been eagerly sought by collectors and museums for over 150 years. With their distinctively sturdy, often twinned, well-formed crystals, sometimes associated with native copper and frequently on matrix, these are true classics for silver as a mineral species. This fine example features no less than four aesthetic “fans” of bright, well-formed “herringbone” type silver crystals, elegantly positioned on crystallized copper and basalt rock matrix. The quality of the silver crystals is high, and the association with copper crystals is unusual. The locality, the Mohawk mine, is also atypical for Michigan silver of this quality. This specimen was collected by local mineral collectors in the winter of 2012 from the first level of the mine, and was part of a prominent Michigan mineral collection before I acquired it earlier this year. A fine Michigan silver and an American mineral classic! Annette Slade photo.