Sperrylite with Chalcopyrite

Unknown Owner

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This is a significant large, display-case-worthy specimen of the platinum arsenide mineral Sperrylite. Sperrylite has the finest crystals of any platinum group mineral species. This matrix plate features numerous crystals, including several sharp, bright metallic silvery gray crystals perfectly perched on a plate of matrix and others embedded in the Chalcopyrite matrix. Sperrylite is the only platinum mineral that forms great crystals of any kind, let alone spectacularly lustrous and sometimes large crystals like these! Generally, the bigger they are the more deformed and crackled they become as well. It is uncommon to find freestanding crystals like some of these are, as the majority are normally frozen in the matrix (like some of the crystals elsewhere upon this piece). It is even more uncommon to find complexly formed crystals to 1.5 cm, like the large one here, that retains sharp edges and faces without developing cracks as it grew. This is an excellent and rich miniature for the species, from a notable private collection. It is heavy, weighty (77 grams - a lot of platinum here!), and feels like a larger specimen in the hand. Large display plates of Sperrylite are just so rare on market and nothing like this has come to market in years.