Sphalerite ("Ruby Jack")

Item Description

A beautiful old time specimen of classic red "Ruby Jack" Sphalerite from the famous locality at Joplin, Missouri. The piece comes with an historic label from the legendary mineral dealer, Hugh A. Ford. Since the label has Ford's New York address it dates to 1946-1957, and it's simply labeled as "Joplin District, Missouri". Dozens of "jewel"-like sharp, GEM/gemmy, rich orange-red color modified crystals of Sphalerite sit atop a layer of drusy sugar grey Quartz on matrix. The largest Sphalerite measure up to 6 mm. Good quality and beatuiful considering that Sphalerite is one of the few transparent sulfides out there. Great old classic material from the tri-state region.