Pyromorphite (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

Here we have a very hard to find specimen of Pyromorphite from what was commonly labeled as coming from the town of Tanzfleck near Freihung, but it's actually from the Beim Stollen Mine near Grafenwöhr in Bavaria. The entry on mindat.org states that the, "locality is usually associated with Tanzfleck hamlet, which is the closest population center. However, Tanzfleck does not only belong to a different municipality (Freihung instead of Grafenwöhr) but also to a different county". This locality is now the site of a military base, the locality is completely off-limits for collecting, so any of these specimens on the market today are old material (and quite uncommon). The locality was not known to have produced any other mineral specimens of note. This piece features a beautiful crystallized "ribbon" of shiny, bright yellow-green Pyromorphite crystals measuring up to about 5 mm, sitting on sandstone matrix. Virtually all of the Pyromorphite crystals are undamaged, though there is a bit of roughness near the edge. An impressive and showy display piece with a color that you don't typically see in German Pyromorphites, it's much more reminiscent of Bunker Hill, Idaho or the Daoping Mine in China. Valued at $1,800-$2,200. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#186 D), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the next two to three years through our various platforms.