Smithsonite (ex Willard Wulff Collection)

Item Description

Mineral specimens from this former Zn-Au-Cu-Bi-Au-Pb-Ag-pyrite mine are very uncommon and very rarely available. This is an unusual but very attractive semi-hemispherical and "rosette"-shaped group of oddly brownish-black colored Smithsonite with a lovely vitreous luster. No damage that I can see with the naked eye. Good quality along with the strange color make this a very desirable thumbnail from this lesser known locality in Arizona. This specimen comes from the collection of Willard W. Wulff (1904-1998) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a prominent figure and collector of Colorado minerals. Wulff was one of the founding members of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society in 1936. You can read Willard's bio on the Mineralogical Record website here ( http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1528 ). The piece comes mounted in a "Perky" box from Wulff that says he acquired the piece from Frank Valenzuela. A wonderfully historic and eye-catching specimen of this well known old time material.