Pyrite Sun 4.90” Large Shiny Miner’s Dollar Crystal Fools Gold Sparta IL H0085 for Sale

On eBay Now...

Pyrite Sun 4.90” Large Shiny Miner’s Dollar Crystal Fools Gold Sparta IL H0085 For Sale

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Pyrite Sun 4.90” Large Shiny Miner’s Dollar Crystal Fools Gold Sparta IL H0085:
$28.99

Beautiful Shiny Pyrite Sun from Sparta Illinois.Great specimen for your collection or just to display in your home or at work. These make great gifts as well. This one has been cleaned on both sides. Both sides of the specimen are shown in the photos. Check our other listings.

Overall Size: 4.9\" or123 mm

Thanks!

History

Pyrite Suns from Sparta, Illinois were formed over 300 million years ago in a thin seam of slate above a coal deposit in what is now southern Illinois. Much sought after by mineral collectors and particularly by those with an affinity for pyrite, pyrite suns will become increasingly rare and difficult to obtain as the Illinois coal mines cease production and are shut down one by one. One of the most unusual and striking varieties of pyrite are the disc-shaped pyrite \"suns\", also known as pyrite dollars, which exhibit striations radiating out from the center like rays of the sun. These unique specimens are recovered from underground coal mines near Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois USA, where they occur in narrow, compacted seams of slate interbedded in 300 million-year-old Pennsylvanian Period coal deposits. The origin of pyrite suns has been a subject of speculation and debate. While some authorities have speculated they originated as fossils that were subsequently replaced with pyrite, the current consensus is they are concretions spread out under pressure and forced to grow in a laterally compressed, radiating manner in the seams of slate. These are located by gently splitting the layers of shale and then must be cleaned by a labor intensive process which produces such wonderful treasures!