Acanthite (fine crystals) on Calcite

Item Description

Mexico has produced some of the finest specimens of Acanthite ever found. The famous Fresnillo locality has been the source of some top-notch Acanthites over the years, and this piece is a wonderful example featuring notably well-formed, sharp, lustrous, dark silvery-grey metallic crystals measuring up to 1.1 mc across, sitting on contrasting white Calcite matrix. There are several crystals on the piece that feature defined, sharp faces, and they're not just a jumbled mass like some you'll see from Fresnillo. I enjoyed looking at this one with a loupe, as the morphology is excellent for the species. Valued at $1,250 retail. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#209 MX), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the next two to three years through our various platforms.