Nickeline (rare) (ex Chet Lemanski Collection)

Item Description

The rare and beautiful nickel arsenide (one atom of each) Nickeline is found in many world localities, but the German specimens are among the finest examples ever found. Nickeline has actually been known since the late 1600s, originally referred to as Kupfernickel in German (because early mineralogists thought it contained copper). In 1868 the great mineralogist, James Dwight Dana actually changed the name of the species to Niccolite after "niccolum" (the Latin word for nickel). This change actually really stuck, and you will still see many specimens on the market labeled as Niccolite, even though Nickeline has been used for decades. This attractive specimen is from Eisleben in the Mansfeld Basin in Saxony and features a rich patch of bronze colored Nickeline on host rock matrix. To the naked eye, the Nickeline may not appear to be crystallized, but with a loupe you can see beautiful crystallized faces, especially along the thin edge of the specimen. This piece would make a great addition to a collection of rarities, German minerals or anybody who likes metallic species. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #14612CL. 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.