Galena with Fluorite (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

A classic specimen from the famous Cave-in-Rock Subdistrict in Southern Illinois. Sharp, well-formed, steel-grey colored cubic crystals of Galena are associated with rich purple colored cubes of Fluorite sitting atop a micro drusy layer of sparkling Quartz along with minor gemmy reddish-brown crystals of Sphalerite. The piece is crystallized on both sides, and gives two contrasting viewpoints, one with the Fluorite featured in the center, and the other with more prominent Galena crystals. The largest Galena measures 1.7 cm on edge. Very little damage and showy. This classic material was a staple on the mineral market landscape for decades, but it's all but disappeared now, and is incredibly hard to find. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #19418CL. 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.