Fluorite on Fluorite (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

This is the first specimen from the Ödsbach Mine that we've had to offer in the auctions. This ancient Fluorite mine was abandoned in 1959, so no new specimens have been available for over 60 years! It features pronounced, sharp, lustrous, translucent lilac colored cubic crystals of Fluorite in an eye-catching "stacked" formation sitting atop a previous generation of massive seafoam blue-green colored Fluorite matrix. A small semi-rose shaped group of white bladed Barite can be seen on the front of the piece. Good condition overall, though there are a few rough spots, so the piece is not 100% pristine. What counts here is the rare locality and the wonderful size and aesthetics of the piece. Additionally, the back of the specimen has a saw mark, but you can't see it from the front when the piece is displayed. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #19507CL. For refernce, Chet's collection catalogue states that this piece was "A former Ward's Natural Science Est. specimen from the Dr. Eugene E. Sensel collection (#R314) (purchased $2 - 1943)". 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.