Phenakite (old classic locality)

Item Description

A great old classic Phenakite specimen featuring two blocky-prismatic, terminated, light smoky beige colored crystals in milky Quartz matrix. The largest crystal measures 1.5 cm. Good matrix pieces of this well-known yet fairly hard to find material are very scarce on the market, and this large thumbnail / toenail sized piece is a fine presentable specimen for any fan of pegmatite minerals, beryllium minerals or worldwide Phenakites.
From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #13287CL. 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.