Amazonite is a beautiful blue mineral species that is a rare variety of the more common feldspar group of minerals. Usually these form as rocks, and are simply not considered among the high level collectible mineral species. For a combination of color and geometry, Amazonite is certainly the most highly valued of this group of minerals. Of all amazonite finds, the most famous and richest discoveries have been near Pikes peak in Colorado, USA. Of all of those, only one stands out in memory as the finest known discovery of all time. The Tree Root Pocket find of 1997 is literally the most valuable and the most legendary find of Colorado amazonite to this day; and among the most important USA mineral discoveries. Specimens that are trackable and provable to this pocket are uncommon to market and only come up as generational collections are recycled. In this case, Jack Halpern was the original owner who bought this when it came to market in 1998, and owned it from 1998-2024 (Jack sadly passed away in October of 2025 at age 105, the oldest living mineral collector at the time). Like most other large specimens from the region, everything of size from these discoveries is repaired; and this is no exception, with a few clean lock-fit repairs. Importantly, this has no epoxy restoration. The Tree Root Pocket was literally in pieces, preserved in one place but disrupted and dismantled by geology as these formed tens of millions of years ago in pockets that then collapsed partially over time. This was found in the course of working other nearby mining claims, by seeing that a huge tree had roots growing into a hole in the ground near an existing mining attempt. Put together, many pieces were flat plates as usual but some, such as this, had a more dynamic shape. Jack Halpern was a self-described lover of color in minerals, and his favorite color was blue. He bought this at the time, judging it based on the entire display case full of available specimens, because it was colorful a

Ex Jack Halpern Collection