Ex. Colorado School of Mines

A old cabinet specimen of galena on a chert plate.  The cubic galena crystals have interesting octahedral growths on the main faces, and some of the crystals have a later coverage of marcasite.  There are a couple minor chips, but they are hard to spot, unless you are looking for them.

This could be split into two specimens, or even displayed horizontally as is.  Given the age of the piece and the relative scarcity of larger examples, I decided to leave it as is.

This is classic US material, not to be confused with more contemporary specimens from the Viburnum Trend District in neighboring Missouri.

Mining in the area began around the 1850's-60's on the Missouri side of the district, with the last mine closing in Oklahoma in 1967 (that should provide some idea of the age of this piece.)  Because of the environmental impact of the extensive lead mining, the area is today home to 3 Superfund sites, and Picher itself is a ghost town.