Pyrrhotite with Quartz

Item Description

Dalnegorsk is one of the great contemporary Russian localities, producing a wealth of fine quality crystallized display specimens of various species, including some of the finest Pyrrhotites ever found. This specimen is a fantastic cabinet sized example hosting a layered group of pseudo-hexagonal, bronze colored Pyrrhotite crystals measuring 4.2 cm at it widest dimension, associated with thin, prismatic, silvery colored Quartz crystals and little black Sphalerites, aesthetically set atop a matrix of light tan Siderite which is coating rhombic Calcite. The balance and arrangement of the piece are superb, with the Pyrrhotite centered perfectly in the middle of the matrix, and the piece displays beautifully as you can see from the video. No damage of note I can find, and simply a striking and beautiful display specimen of this well-known sulfide that it not often seen in such eye-catching examples outside of Dalnegorsk.
The old price from the label from Gene Schlepp had the piece valued at $3,500 many years ago, and I would put it much closer to $7,000-$8,000 today.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3620. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information