page_title: Mother lode
hierarchical_section_title: Mother lode
caption_attribution_description: English: Gold Locality: Mother Lode (Mother Lode belt), Tuolumne County, California, USA (Locality at mindat.org) Size: 5.3 x 2.7 x 2.4 cm. This gold specimen has natural pocket crystals, not etched out of surrounding matrix with acid and so preternaturally bright and with a complex patina. It is a large miniature which for many years was the best piece in the collection of my own mentor, Carlton Davis of Columbus, Ohio. He had bought it from Hugh Ford's famous NYC mineral shop in the 1950s. When Carl sold his collection, this piece went first to Bill Pinch and then to Mark Feinglos. The mine name of origin has been lost but it is from the Mother Lode area of old mining in California, mostly contained within the current Tuolumne County. The crystals are stunningly bright and sharp. It is intricately 3-dimensional. Ex. Dr. Mark Feinglos, Bill Pinch, and Carlton Davis Collections. Deutsch: Gold Fundort: Hauptader, Tuolumne County, Kalifornien, Vereinigte Staaten (Fundort bei mindat.org) Größe: 5.3 x 2.7 x 2.4 cm.
context_page_description: Mother lode is a principal vein or zone of gold or silver ore. The term is also used colloquially to refer to the real or imaginary origin of something valuable or in great abundance.
context_section_description: Mother lode is a principal vein or zone of gold or silver ore.  The term is also used colloquially to refer to the real or imaginary origin of something valuable or in great abundance.
caption: Crystalline gold specimen from the California Mother Lode, probably from Tuolumne County (5.3 x 2.7 x 2.4 cm).
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