Stibnite

Item Description

A beautiful, good-sized specimen of Stibnite from the White Caps Mine in Nevada, which is well-known for producing the finest examples of this antimony sulfide from anywhere in North America. Fine specimens such as this were rare to obtain when the mine was active, and notably difficult to come by now. This three-dimensional small cabinet is filled with sharp, well-formed, metallic silvery-grey colored prismatic crystals measuring up to 5.0 cm, free of matrix. It is dramatic and sculptural, with brilliant luster and great visual appeal. The piece actually sits nicely on its own without the aid of a base or clay, which is quite rare for this material in my experience. The mine produced intermittently from 1865 to about 1958.
Valued $2,500.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 1786. 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