Ferberite (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful display specimen featuring a very thick, hefty, prismatic, highly lustrous, jet-black, striated Ferberite crystals coated by minor tan Siderite. There is some very minor bruising of the piece, but the side looks to be crystallized not cleaved, like so many piece from this locality. It's a very attractive specimen for the material. Panasqueira produced some of the most impressive and attractive Ferberite specimens extant, and pieces like this remind collectors that it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain good specimens from this now defunct locality. This is not just a "black rock", but a classic specimen of this now hard to find material. Valued at $1,750 in the inventory. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #493). Bedogne wrote dozens of articles and several books about the mineralogy of Italian Alpine localities such as Val Bregaglia, Val Masino, Val Codera, Val Spluga, Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco. He was also the founder of the Valtellinese Mineralogical Institute.