Wakabayashilite (rare - circa 1900) ex Matioli Coll.

White Caps Mine, Manhattan, Nye Co., Nevada
Small Cabinet, 5.2 x 4.1 x 3.3 cm
Start Time: 03/30/2017 6:30:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 04/06/2017 6:30:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed

Item Description

The world's finest specimens of wakabayashilite, a rare As-Sb sulfosalt, and the finest US specimens of stibnite come from this long extinct gold-antimony-arsenic mine (gold mining ceased by 1920). Old-time material was known as "hair orpiment", until it was correctly identified only in 1969! Sprays of highly lustrous, golden-yellow, soft fibers, to 1.2 cm, attractively cover the top and part of one side of the sculptural, blocky calcite cleavage. Fragments of blood-red realgar crystals are a classic accent. Old-time, rich specimens, such as this are RARE and are highly desirable. A MUST for the species or locality collector. Ex Forrest Cureton and then Paolo Matioli Collections over the last 30 years or so. Valued at $1500.

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