BRIGHT FLUORESCENT PHOSPHORESCENT GEMMY BROWN WILLEMITE & CALCITE W/ FRANKLINITE

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

This piece from Sterling Hill, Ogdensburg in Sussex County N.J. is a wonderful example of what that mine was capable of producing. The maitrix is calcite and it contains large particles of willemite and franklinite. I understand that advanced Franklin fluorescent collectors look for unusual pieces that have veining and other special characteristics. I believe that this fits the bill as there are very large and distinct clusters of both willemite and franklinite and broad areas of smooth calcite. One face is almost exclusively willemite. As always with these rocks, the real show is under ultraviolet light. Under shortwave light [pictures 1-4], the calcite is a very bright orange and the plentiful willemite is a vivid green. The franklinite shows up as dark spots. The longwave response surprised me. The calcite fluoresced [pictures 5-7] a stunning magenta. The willemite also fluoresced under long wave light which is fortuitous as other pieces that I've sold sometimes had no willemite fluorescence under long wave ultraviolet light. I used an All Ways Cool 90watt/65watt combination shortwave longwave lamp to take these pictures. Under a 12 watt portable shortwave lamp the fluorescence is comparable. Under an inexpensive black light, the willemite is not as bright and the calcite is a darker color. There is a fleeting phosphorescence once the short wave source is removed. I just added two new pictures [11-12] that were taken under a midwave lamp. Unless my eyes are playing tricks, I believe that the red is deeper and the green more vivid. This is a great piece to illustrate that not all is as it seems on the surface. The piece weighs 184 grams and measures approximately 4 x 2 x 1 inches. Shipping via first class mail will be free in the U.S. International bidders please contact me for shipping rates. As always, I am happy to combine purchases to save shipping costs. A NOTE ON ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT I have pictured response to both longwave and shortwave u/v light. Longwave lights are reasonably priced and readily available. Until recently, I used a simple blacklight that I purchased on Ebay for about $20. Shortwave lights are much more expensive and one usually cannot walk into a store to purchase one. The expensive component is the glass filter which eliminates most of the visible light produced by the fluorescent bulb. A good portable battery powered short wave light probably runs about $250+. Sanitizing lights do not filter out the visible spectrum, so, while they may be shortwave, they do not create visible fluorescence. Also, there are at least two longwave frequencies used for looking at fluorescent minerals. Sometimes, one will work brilliantly, while the other will be a dud - in other words, it will not fluoresce the mineral at hand. To truly enjoy mineral fluorescence, a short wave light will eventually be necessary, although long wave excels with some minerals and holds its own with others. If you have any problem fluorescing the mineral, please don't leave me a negative or a neutral. And, please don't penalize me in the five star rating system. Contact me and I will make it right. Either a replacement or a full refund will be made. A word about shipping time and shipping cost . With very, very few exceptions, I ship the business day after payment has been received. Oftentimes, if payment happens earlier in the day, I ship the same day. Once I ship, it is out of my hands although I have to say that both the post office and UPS seem to be doing a good job. I don't make money on shipping costs. In fact, I'm happy to break even [a recent international shipment cost me $8 more than I received for shipping but that was partially my fault]. If the estimate is too high, I return some of the shipping cost. Shipping cost includes a percentage that E-Bay and Paypal take of what you pay for shipping [between 8.9% and 10.9%]. That's correct, they take their share of shipping. I also incur costs for boxes, small bubble envelopes, bubble wrap mai... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.