Pyrite Sun
$38.00
Pyrite “suns,” also called “miners’ dollars,” are spectacular disk-shaped mineral concretions of pyrite [iron sulfide (FeS2) arranged in a regular cubic configuration] with minor amounts of marcasite [also iron sulfide (FeS2) but arranged in an orthorhombic configuration, i.e., a rectangular or stretched cube shape]. The mineral disks range from the size of a small penny up to the size of a dinner plate but are commonly about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. They are found in organic shale and grow outward (radially) instead of upward because of the weight of the sedimentary layers on top. The pyrite suns at Sparta are found in Pennsylvanian-age rocks, approximately 300 million years old, 200 to 250 feet below ground in coal mines.
- Origin :: coal mines near Sparta, Illinois
- Measurements :: 74 x 68 x 7 mm
- Weight :: 2.3 oz