CHALCOPYRITE

Ellenville, Ulster County, New York

CHALCOPYRITE on QUARTZ, Ellenville, Ulster County, New York. This is an important early specimen. The Ellenville mines were worked, for lead and copper, as early as the late 17th century by the local Dutch settlers. This specimen with its matrix in a rather-even “cobbed” shape probably dates to the early nineteenth century. Such cobbed specimens (cobbing is the practice of cleaving matrix into square or rectangular shapes) were especially in fashion in geological museums. The chalcopyrite is nicely crystallized and the mostly-transparent quartz crystals are quite perfect. 4-1/2x3-1/2x2. Sold.