Collector's Piece: Pyrite Sphere and Pyrite on Calcite from Daye Copper Mine

Dimension: 6cm x 5.2cm x 4cm
Weight: 113g
Locality: Fengjiashan Mine (Daye Copper mine), Edong Mining District, Daye County, Huangshi Prefecture, Hubei Province, China
 
One of the rarest and most impressive display Pyrite specimens from the Daye Copper Mine which features a brassy-gold, isolated pentagonal dodecahedron Pyrite crystal measuring 3cm x 2.7cm, sits on a matrix of metamorphic marble.  The most impressive and unique aspect of the piece is that the Calcites disks in hexagonal rhombohedron crystal habit have a fantastic selective deposition of three pointed stars resembling the "Mercedes emblems" of sparkling, gold Pyrite which runs along the edges of the pyramidal faces of the terminations of nearly every crystal.  Bought by my father in around 1995-1996, this aesthetic and 3-dimentional Pyrite specimen is for sure a winning display piece!