Pyrite, otherwise known as Fool’s Gold, can be found in many places around the world. This specimen comes from the soft sandstone hills at the Mina Ampliación a Victoria. The pyrite cubes from Navajún, Spain are considered the finest in the world.
The cube are made up of 47% iron and 53% sulfur. The combination of moderate temperatures, a soft, porous substrate and low pressures allowed the cubes to form symmetrically.
The word pyrite comes from the Greek word pur which means fire as striking it will cause a spark. Use of the cubes dates back to as early as 300 B.C. Romans included them in their mosaics. In the Middle Ages the cubes were ingested as medicine. This was a very bad idea since the edges can be rather sharp. More modern uses were “flintlock” guns and currently in solar cells.
You will receive one pyrite cube picked at lovingly at random, similar to the ones pictured. Due to natural variations, each piece is unique.
Reference code: PyrC2-48
