[Rockhounds] Hanksite

[DonH]

Tim Jokela Jr. wrote:

> There's an interesting potential experiment here!
> 
> Come up with ten different treatment methods, treat a couple or three 
> hanksites with each, and compare over time!


Hi Tim,

Indeed, but it reaches a point where the treatment exceeds the enjoyment 
of the specimen.  Also, it has become clear that the long-term 
environment in which the specimen is stored will affect the specimen no 
matter what the treatment--unless, perhaps, it is cast inside an acrylic 
block.

I know people who had halides stored for years on open display without 
the slightest degradation.  I also know people who have taken 
extraordiary Frankenstein measures and still lost their specimens, being 
left with either a thin shell of spray-on acrylic and a pile of white 
dust, or perhaps a dark grey former marcasite that decomposed and ate 
through the label, the box, and was only stopped by the glass shelf 
before it ate its acidic way to the center of the earth.

There is no one correct answer, but it is definitely a good topic for 
discussion among collectors, and something for everyone to think about 
as they decide on the collection they want to build and what it takes to 
curate that collection properly.

Best,
Don