Chalcanthite on Wood (RARE locality specimen)

Item Description

An incredibly hard to find matrix specimen of Chalcanthite from the lesser-known Surprise Mine in Ravensthorpe, Western Australia, Australia featuring many electric blue colored crystals measuring to a few mm on wood matrix. Jack bought the piece from Sharon and Gene Cisneros (Mineralogical Research Co.) in 1969, and there is another example of the material on their mindat profile (see https://www.mindat.org/photo-1150045.html ) that states the crystals are "natural", indicating that they may not have formed from a post-mining process like many Chalcanthites you find in secondary ore deposits. It's the only matrix specimen of the material that we've ever seen, and a cool esoteric locality specimen for any fan of copper species or minerals of Australia. The piece is accompanied by a couple of 3x5 index card which have the original dealer label attached, along with beautiful pencil sketches of the piece (presumably drawn by Jack himself).
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3195. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information