Arsenopyrite (ex Paul Zerfass Collection)

Item Description

From the collection of the long time, beloved, well-known French field collector, Paul Zerfass (Collection #533). The lable accompanying the piece only says "Arsenopyrite", and no locality it given. The piece could be from Trepca or Panasqueira, but it's hard to say for certain. It looks like the Arsenopyrites have been exposed by dissolving away some of the surrounding Calcite (which partially remains). The Arsenopyrite crystals measure up to about 5 mm and are notably sharp and lustrous with a silvery-grey hue. Zerfass built this worldwide collection over nearly 50 years, many of which were personally collected. A biography featuring specimens from his collection (along with his face on the cover) is in the May - June 2017 issue of French mineral magazine, Le Regne Mineral. We have a .pdf copy of the article for anybody interested in reading it (though it's mostly in French). Just drop us a line and know that you'd like to have a copy.