{"product_id":"chalcocite-19th-century-fake","title":"CHALCOCITE (19th Century Fake)","description":"Faked mineral specimens are not just a present day issue; they have a long history and tend to exist whenever demand exceeds supply of a desirable and sought after species.  At first glance this is a most attractive specimen of well crystallised Chalcocite, purportedly (and probably is) from the Levant mine at Trewellard, close to St Just in Cornwall.  A rich group of grey metallic Chalcocite crystals sit and stand on a flat platy matrix of green-tinged cream Calcite.  On examination however, the larger crystals can be seen to be embedded in a cream-coloured paste which has not been well camouflaged to say the least!  Under LWUV the paste fluoresces a dull leaf green.  In all likelihood, the individual components of this specimen probably all originate from Levant, but from different parts of the mine!  It’s a great example of a classic 19th century Cornish fake, for those collectors fascinated in the history of Cornish mines and its minerals.\n","brand":"Crystal Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57780841972047,"sku":"CC13449","price":925.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1011\/3748\/2063\/files\/CC13449_45e22cb7-efbd-45ef-bf97-f1b9e815ce91.jpg?v=1783970237","url":"https:\/\/crystalclassics.co.uk\/products\/chalcocite-19th-century-fake","provider":"Crystal Classics UK","version":"1.0","type":"link"}