Ferberite with Fluorapatite (ex Paul Zerfass Collection)

Item Description

A fantastic, hand-size, display specimen of large, incredibly lustrous, tabular, jet-black, striated Ferberite crystals forming a very attractive overall piece The piece is associated with minor hexgonal soft blue tabular crystals of Fluorapatite with golden Siderite on the back, and displays beautifully as you can see in the photos. Panasqueira produced some of the most impressive and attractive Ferberite specimens (often called "Wolframite" at the time) extant, and pieces like this remind collectors that it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain fine specimens from this now defunct locality. A dramatic, and hefty display specimen, and a very good looking piece for a "black rock". The piece is crystallized on both front and back, and really stands out to me as a superb example of this beloved material. Valued at $2,200 retail. From the collection of the long time, beloved, well-known French field collector, Paul Zerfass (Collection #583). Zerfass built this worldwide collection over nearly 50 years, many of which were personally collected. A biography featuring specimens from his collection (along with his face on the cover) is in the May - June 2017 issue of French mineral magazine, Le Regne Mineral. We have a .pdf copy of the article for anybody interested in reading it (though it's mostly in French). Just drop us a line and know that you'd like to have a copy.