Ullmannite

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Aesthetically perched high on a calcite matrix are crystals, to 9 mm in length, of splendent, silver gray ullmanite. This is an uncommon sulfosalt of nickel, antimony sulfide. It is more often seen from Sarrabus in Italy. German crystals, and of this size, certainly are rare. This specimen is from the diverse and wellknown thumbnail rarities collection of my own mentor, Carlton Davis of Columbus, Ohio. He had such great taste and carefully selected each thumbnail, returning each year from Tucson with rarities like this whose significance had to be patiently explained to me (as a high-school kid in the 1980's). Some of his specimens, in particular his European classics, dated from the 1940s and his post-war job at Ward's Scientific in Rochester. I would not be surprised if this were one of those very much older specimens.