Realgar on Calcite (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

Here is a fantastic quality, classic example of the famous Realgar crystals from Shimen. This sculptural and showy, three-dimensional display piece features several large, sharp, lustrous, striated, fiery red colored prisms sitting atop contrasting "dog tooth"-shaped silvery-grey scalenohedral crystals of Calcite. The Calcites are actually a light golden color, but are included with what is either Arsenic, Stibnite or Christite, but it hasn't been analyzed to know for certain. The largest Realgar measures a whopping 5.7 cm long, quite large for species. Like many Realgars, this piece shows that iconic glowing color when backlit, and as an added bonus, you can even see a "phantom" in one of the Calcite crystals, which is quite rare in my experience with this material. The main Realgar crystals are well terminated, but there are some small imperfections keeping it from being 100% damage free. This mine is the premier locality for Realgar crystals in the world, and to find crystals over 2 inches is a big deal! Priced at $5,000 in the inventory. 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.