[Rockhounds] Winter Blah's Pop Quiz - What Was The Last Specimen Added To Your Collection?

[Earl R. Verbeek]

OK, Kreigh, I'll bite,

The last specimen I acquired was one I'd been looking at for weeks, through
the glass door of a display case in the gift shop of the Sterling Hill
Mining Museum.  It's a fairly typical specimen of Illinois fluorite, but
what intrigued me were the seven conical depressions in the otherwise
perfectly flat crystal faces, as if someone had started to drill holes,
each of them about 3/8" in diameter and depth.  I suspected they were molds
of solitary corals and just had to know, so I opened the case, got out my
hand lens, and wham! there they were -- each conical depression shows the
delicately ribbed structure of the coral that is no longer there.

This is a specimen that tells a story, and even though on aesthetic terms
it pales in comparison to the best Illinois fluorites, this one has a
different kind of value.  A friend of mine recently studied a similar
specimen in the collection of the University of Wollongong, and I believe
that it will be on display at this year's Tucson show, as an entry for the
"Mineral Oddities" theme.  Just think of the geological processes involved
in this specimen's formation and you'll see why some people specialize in
such things  -- these are specimens that excite and inform, and what could
be better than that?

By the way, if any of you out there have more information on these coral
molds in fluorite, please chime in.  I'd love to know more about them. 
Thanks!

            Cheers-   Earl Verbeek


On Thu, 5 Feb 2009 22:29:33 -0500, Kreigh Tomaszewski
<Kreigh at Tomaszewski.net> wrote:
> I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of Winter and the blah's 
> of not being able to collect. I'm cataloging a backlog of specimens and 
> the blah's still get to me from time to time. I need some cheering up 
> and want to hear about what people have collected.
> 
> The Winter Blah's Pop Quiz should cheer us all up and provide an 
> interesting snapshot to what is out there to be found this coming 
> Summer. There is only one question; only those who answer it pass the 
> quiz (extra credit for more details).
> 
> 	What Was The Last Specimen Added To Your Collection?
> 
> -- 
> 
> I figure it is only fair I answer my own question to start...
> 
> My newest specimen is a thumbnail of Clinoptilolite-Ca, that is really 
> a micromount, from Rock Island Dam, Wenatchee, Wa, that I acquired from 
> Jim Daly at Sauktown Sales.
> 
> 	Unsolicited plug from a satisfied customer - Jim has some great
> 	specimens if you are interested in micromounts or rare minerals.
> 
> It is a tectosilicate (zeolite) that forms in small bubbles in basalt, 
> monoclinic, clear to white. I had to go to 15X before I could confirm 
> the crystals, but there were a lot of them, and they were really sharp. 
> They look even better at 30X.
> 
> The specimen was a new species to my systematic collection. It made me 
> happy.
> 
> -- 
> 
> I really hope some of you respond.
> 
> Kreigh