British Minerals

British mineral specimens have always been popular among collectors, with some dedicating entire collections to purely British samples. Britain has one of the longest histories of mining in the world and was at the forefront of the industry in it’s early years, at one point being one of the biggest employment sectors of the country. In recent years, British mining has decreased & many more sites are becoming ‘SSSI’ (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) or just closing general due to exhaustion or lack of viability, which has resulted in collecting in such areas being prohibited. This has essentially pushed up prices of mineral specimens from such locations already in collections & has made the trading of British minerals as popular and as competitive as ever with specimens sometimes trading hands at hundreds of pounds per piece.