Calcite on Sphalerite var. Schalenblende

A very good miniature of well crystallised creamy-fawn translucent Calcite mostly covering a thin bed of brown and dark grey banded Sphalerite, variety Schalenblende.  This specimen is from the Diepenlinchen mine at Mausbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; one of the most important mines in this lead-zinc ore field, which was originally worked during the Roman occupation in the 2nd century AD.   The Calcite forms slightly elongated rhombic crystals, in the dog tooth habit and has a greasy to waxy lustre.  The Schalenblende displays nice banding beneath the specimen, with its upper display surface encrusted in deep clove-brown micro-crystals.  The specimen is accompanied with a nice old German handwritten label in elegant copperplate script.