Ficthelite (rare) on Petrified Wood

Item Description

This piece is an interesting novelty from Wampen in Bavaria, Germany (near the Czech border in the area for which Ficthelite gets is name = Fichtelgebirge, Germany) featuring tiny crystals of the organic hydrocarbon mineral, Ficthelite. Mindat.org describes this mineral as, "Chemically identical to Dimethyl-isopropyl-perhydrophenanthrene (also known as norabietane, or more specifically 18-norabietane)." This large miniature / small cabinet sized specimen features sparkling, lustrous, sharp, translucent crystals of colorless Ficthelite partially covering a piece of golden-brown petrified wood matrix. We have photographed the Ficthelite with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the little crystals. A really cool esoteric specimen that would make a nice addition to a collection or European minerals or even fossil / mineral combinations. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #14295CL. 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.