Image: Wikimedia Commons

acanthite

Mineral, silver sulfide

Instance of: mineral species
1
Sources
1.Stated in The IMA List of Minerals (July 2019)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Subclass of: sulfide class of minerals

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Acanthite is a form of silver sulfide with the chemical formula Ag2S. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and is the stable form of silver sulfide below 173 °C (343 °F). Argentite is the stable form above that temperature. As argentite cools below that temperature its cubic form is distorted to the monoclinic form of acanthite. Below 173 °C acanthite forms directly. Acanthite is the only stable form in normal air temperature.

Overview

All data

34 statements · 38% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Formula: Ag₂S
1
Sources
1.Stated in The IMA List of Minerals (December 2014)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Nickel-Strunz 9th edition (updated 2009): 2.BA.30
1
Sources
1.Stated in mineralienatlas.de
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Nickel-Strunz '10th ed', review of (9th ed/ 2009 update): 2.BA.35
1
Sources
1.Stated in MinDat
View statement on Wikidata ↗
IMA status and/or rank: grandfathered mineral (G)
1
Sources
1.Stated in The IMA List of Minerals (February 2013)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Type locality (geology): Jáchymov
1
Sources
1.Stated in MinDat
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Streak color: black
Crystal system: monoclinic crystal system
1
Sources
1.Stated in mineralienatlas.de
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Named after: spinose structure language: Ancient Greek · object named as: ἄκανθα "akantha"
IMA Mineral Symbol: Aca
1
Sources
1.Stated in IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Strunz 8th edition (series ID, updated): II/A.03
1
Sources
1.Stated in Mineralogische Tabellen : Eine Klassifizierung der Mineralien auf kristallchemischer Grundlage, mit einer Einfuhrung in die Kristallchemie (1982)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Space group: space group P2₁/n
Point group: monoclinic-prismatic

On other databases

15 identifiers linking acanthite across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

38%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 27, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). acanthite (Q413498). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/acanthite-Q413498