Pyrite on Quartz (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

A fantastic, aesthetic and fine quality Pyrite from the famous Shangbao Mine. This locality might be best known for its superb Fluorites, but it also produced some stellar Pyrite specimens. This small cabinet features a predominant, very sharp, lustrous, beautiful golden metallic cubic crystal of Pyrite with minor octahedral modifications measuring 2.0 cm on edge beautifully set atop the white Quartz matrix. The Pyrite cannot be better positioned on the piece, and it's accentuated by a few smaller sidecar Pyrites on the side. The main crystal is undamaged, though there is a spot on the back where it was contacted against the Quartz and partially recrystallized. Priced at $1,500 for quality and aesthetics. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?colid=671&page=1 ) or on Wikipedia.