Native Silver

A deliciously tangled nest of Native Silver gnarled wires almost entirely cover a ground mass of granular Native Silver.  This fabulous miniature is from Schneeberg in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, Germany, a mining district dating back to medieval and Roman times, renowned for its magnificent Native Silver specimens.  The wires are not easily measured due to their convoluted and tortuous structures, but certainly exceed 1 cm over most of the specimen.  Their colour and patina vary enormously, from silver-white through to pinkish-dull gold and, where unoxidized, bright metallic silver.  The specimen is displayed vertically on a small acrylic base and will make a stand-out miniature in any good collection.