Description: Purportedly collected at Clermont Mills, in Harford County, Maryland, this 2.4 cm. x 1.9cm. x 1.6 cm. crystal is from an assortment of relatively similar rutile crystal specimens once in the historic collection of Dr. Otto Kuntze (1867-1908). Dr. Kuntze (see Mineralogical Record Label Archive) was born and educated in Germany and later resided in the United States in Iowa City, Iowa. At some point, the specimens ended up at a German museum, and later made their way back to the United States. They have since become known to collectors in both Maryland and Pennsylvania because of questions relating to the locality. The Kuntze label (a copy accompanies the specimen--see second image) gave “Harford CT” Connecticut) as the locality. Realizing that rutile was never known to have occurred in the vicinity of Hartford, CT, one of the dealers who had handled the specimens concluded how the label was probably intended to credit “Harford County, Maryland.” Rutile had been mined in Harford County, Maryland at the well known Dinning Rutile Prospect near Clermont Mills after being discovered there in 1925. Notwithstanding,these crystals bear little visual resemblance to the rutile from near Clermont Mills, which was red, translucent, and somewhat glassy in texture. On the other hand, they closely resemble well known rutile crystals similar to those found in Chester County near Parkesburg in neighboring Pennsylvania. Most likely not on the radar of the dealers who handled these crystals was a lesser known occurrence where hundreds of loose rutile crystals were collected over many years by local residents in the soil along a road just a few miles away where Harford County, Maryland meets the Pennsylvania Line. The crystals in this field closely resembled the Parkesburg crystals. It is our belief that it was here that this crystal and others in that original assortment were collected.
Price: 18 USD
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
End Time: 2024-09-08T17:30:01.000Z
Shipping Cost: 4.75 USD
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Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
