Chrysocolla (fine quality) coating Heterogenite

Item Description

A beautiful and high quality cabinet sized specimen of this distinctive material from the L'Etoile du Congo Mine (Star of the Congo Mine) in DR Congo. What immediately grabs your attention is the remarkably high luster exhibited by the deep blue colored Chrysocolla, which is coating a layer of botryoidal, dark grey-black Heterogenite. I can best describe the luster as highly resinous, it's about as slick and reflective as you will see in any Chrysocolla from any locality. The color is also is about as intense as it gets, and when the piece is strongly backlit, you can see the Chrysocolla is actually gemmy(!) showing a neon hue internally. The piece is in good condition, though not completely pristine, as there are some contacted spots when you look closely. Chrysocolla is not a mineral that is often thought of as being a collector's species, but THIS piece certainly puts this copper silicate species into a higher echelon, and you would be hard-pressed to find better color or luster from another locality. A fantastic example of this beautiful material that dates back to the late 1990s.
Valued $3,000.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3220. 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