Cubanite (classic twinned crystals)

Item Description

It's quite rare these days to find a good quality small cabinet sized matrix specimen of Cubanite from the most classic locale for the material, the Henderson No. 2 Mine in Quebec. Good quality Cubanites are rare enough, but to find multiple beautiful crystals together on the same piece is extremely difficult. The magnificent brass color of the crystals along with the highly desirable cyclic twinning makes for really eye-popping pieces. This specimen features a predominant lustrous, sharp, brassy metallic "trilling" twinned group of Cubanite measuring 1.6 cm across associated with many additional supporting crystals along with bladed white Calcite on host rock matrix. There is actually a larger Cubanite group on the back of the piece that measures 3.0 cm across, but it's mostly broken. This locality has produced the world's FINEST Cubanite specimens, and pieces like this are few and far between on the market. Conservatively priced at $2000, and more than likely would go higher on the retail market due to the quality, rarity and overall size. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #21718L. Chet was born 1947 in started collecting minerals circa 1957. He worked briefly as a drill runner at the famous Sterling Mine, in Ogdensburg, New Jersey and from 1987 to 1990 he helped convert the mine into a public access mining museum. He has held the role of treasurer, vice president and president of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society (FOMS), and has been a board member and vice president of the Franklin Mineral Museum. The rare copper arsenate, Lemanskiite was named in his honor in 1999.