Chalcopyrite (old USA classic)

Item Description

Classic and excellent large old-time chalcopyrite from the famous French Creek Mines of Pennsylvania. This rich and showy large mounded plate of solid brass-yellow chalcopyrite is dramatically highlighted by the three, striking, sharp, hoppered pseudo-tetrahedral crystals at one end, to 1.9 cm on edge. Another 2.2 cm hoppered, tetrahedral crystal is hidden adjacent to the large 1.9 cm crystal. The rest of the piece is very attractively covered with partially hoppered crystals to stepped-growth/striated plates of chalcopyrite crystals. The French Creek iron and copper mines were first worked in 1717 and intermittently thereafter until 1928. Most specimens of this style were collected in the 1800s and early 1900s. See the 1994 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 25, No. 2. From the broad and important collections of Dick Hauck, founder and owner of the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in New Jersey. An outstanding and rich large chalcopyrite from the classic locale. Fairly valued at $2000, if you were to see it at a show, particularly in the region where they are so treasured.