Arsenopyrite ("Mispickel") (ex Paul Zerfass Collection)

Item Description

Panasqueira is one of the more classic "modern" European localities. It has produced some of the most iconic Apatites in the world, along with gorgeous sulfides like Arsenopyrite, which in my mind are some of the most beautiful examples of the species in the world. This piece features several razor sharp, very lustrous, metallic, silvery white prismatic crystals of Arsenopyrite (the label refers to them by the French name Mispickel) asthetically intergrown into a three-dimensional specimen with golden Siderite. The largest Arsenopyrite measures 4.3 cm long The piece is in great shape with VERY little damage, and is an aesthetic display piece from this well-known mining district. The piece can be displayed from a few angles, and these specimens are simply not seen on the market these days. Personally I love it, and I think it's one of the better small cabinets that we've offered of this material in the auctions recently. Hard to photograph but REALLY attractive in person. Valued at $1500. From the collection of the long time, beloved, well-known French field collector, Paul Zerfass (Collection #585). 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.