Home > Type Localities II – October 30 > MS0814 Moschellandsbergite, Calomel

Moschellandsbergite, Calomel - Sold


Although known for a century or more from Germany, American mineralogists Berman and Harcourt (1938) realized that the amalgam crystals from Germany were not a random mixture of silver and mercury, but rather a distinct mineral of definite composition. Using the new method of X-ray diffraction, they showed the unit cells of Hg-bearing silver and the amalgam crystals from Germany were quite different. They proposed a formula Ag2Hg3 and named the mineral moschellandsbergite after the locality. This is a rare matrix example with a rounded 3 mm crystal in a calomel lined vug. There are other vugs of calomel crystals (to 1-1.5 mm) on this specimen as well as green malachite, all in an iron-stained matrix. This is also the type locality for calomel. This specimen was part of the personal collection of Ralph Merrill, proprietor of the prolific mail order business Minerals Unlimited, obtained in 1964.