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Jonesey
Joined: 02 Nov 2010
Posts: 16
Location: Mojave Desert
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Posted: Sep 13, 2011 14:34 Post subject: Re: The Bill Pinch collection |
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A collection of rarities and beauties I would love to study. Thanks Bill again for sharing. Come to think of it, in my very first years in minerals, when I had a mineral from somewhere, Bill always seemed to find something else rare lurking within. Valentinite and Pääkkönenite as one interesting example. And since the site seems to not allow me to sign in under my own name, I am once again assuming my husband's identity. Not sure why FMF and I seem unable to connect... to quote a song "my fault I fear..." Poor Casey, must speak for me again. Jane
_________________ How you can spot a mineral collector:
When helping someone move and you ask "is this box full of rocks?" They answer "yes, be careful". |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Sep 13, 2011 14:39 Post subject: Re: The Bill Pinch collection |
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Jonesey wrote: |
...And since the site seems to not allow me to sign in under my own name, I am once again assuming my husband's identity...
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Jane, you should use a different email address if you want to create a new account. Is just one email address per member, sorry for it.
If you need further details please contact with me or Antonio Alcaide via PM (personal message)
_________________ Audaces fortuna iuvat |
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Jane Jones
Joined: 13 Sep 2011
Posts: 1
Location: California
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Posted: Sep 13, 2011 15:07 Post subject: Re: The Bill Pinch collection |
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Thank you, Jordi. Overactive web server spam filter again. (Arnold's new movie "when computers attack 27"). I believe I am now signed in as myself. I appreciated the offer of a person to go to to resolve - very kind of you - ah, if only all life's difficulties provided such simple avenue of resolution. :)
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Sep 16, 2011 17:59 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (40) / Mimetite |
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A "modern classic" from China: the Mimetite from Pingtouling Mine
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Mimetite Pingtouling Mine, Liannan, Sanjiang, Guangdong, China Specimen size: "Miniature"
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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_________________ Audaces fortuna iuvat |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Sep 18, 2011 12:45 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (41) / Legrandite |
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Unexpected for Tsumeb: a Legrandite
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Legrandite Zinc pocket, 4400 level, Tsumeb, Namibia Specimen Size: Cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Sep 21, 2011 14:41 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (42) / Zincroselite |
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A great example of this hyper-rare species.
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Zincroselite Tsumeb, Namibia
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Sep 24, 2011 13:16 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (43) / Phosgenite |
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And a classic, a Phosgenite from Tsumeb
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Phosgenite Tsumeb, Namibia Size: Cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Phosgenite detail Tsumeb, Namibia
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Sep 26, 2011 08:42 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (44) / Wulfenite |
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Fire red Wulfenite from China
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Wulfenite Sichuan, China Specimen size: Cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Wulfenite detail Sichuan, China
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Sep 29, 2011 13:28 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (45) / Segnitite |
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Great Segnitite!
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Segnitite on Quartz Tsumeb, Namibia Specimen size: Cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Oct 04, 2011 09:55 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (46) / Veszelyite |
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This time the rarity comes from China...
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Veszelyite on Hemimorphite Laochang Mine, Gejiu Co., Honghe, Yunnan, China Specimen size: Cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Veszelyite on Hemimorphite Laochang Mine, Gejiu Co., Honghe, Yunnan, China Detail
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Oct 08, 2011 14:43 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (47) / Keyite |
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Keyite (structure type) from Tsumeb
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Keyite (bluish crystals), Schultenite (clear green crystals), Cuproadamite (darker green crystals) Tsumeb, Namibia Size: Miniature Keyite structure type
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Oct 12, 2011 13:43 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (48) / Carminite & Beudantite |
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Fine crystals of two rare species from Tsumeb
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Carminite crystals (reddish) with Beudantite crystals Tsumeb, Namibia Size: Small Cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Oct 15, 2011 15:21 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (49) / Senarmontite with Pääkkönenite |
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Gemmy Senarmontite crystals with balls of the rare species Pääkkönenite
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Senarmontite xls on Pääkkönenite balls Caiwa Mine, Danfeng County, Shaanxi, China Specimen size: Small cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Jordi Fabre
Overall coordinator of the Forum
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 4905
Location: Barcelona
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Posted: Oct 16, 2011 11:16 Post subject: The Bill Pinch collection - (50) / Sohngeite & Otjisumeite - and final. |
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With these two rare species from Tsumeb I'm publishing the post number 50 of the Bill Pinch collection and it will be the last one I will publish for now, because I have already done an extended selection of the most interesting samples published by Bill on his web page: https://www.williampinch.com/minerals
It has been an intense trip where I explored the Pinch collection through his web page, the specimens published in magazines, and the RUFF project web page ( https://rruff.info/ ) to get more details about the specimens as well as to organize the photos of the specimens and their important details.
Considering the enormous value of this collection, the effort was fully justified and I hope that through this thread I popularized a little bit more the collection through this compilation and display of the photos. It seems that members and visitors liked it too, as proven by the number of reads (about 20,000, adding both the English thread and the Spanish thread -> https://www.foro-minerales.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2308 ) and for sure this thread will remain as a reference thread on FMF, at least until Bill Pinch publishes more specimens from his fabulous collection. Then I will continue the task of publishing the “high mineralogy” represented by the Bill Pinch collection.
Thanks again to Bill for authorizing the reproduction of the images and thanks to all visitors who shared the visit.
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Sohngeite twin xls with Otjisumeite Tsumeb, Namibia Size: Small Cabinet
Specimen: William Pinch Collection Photo: Jeff Scovil & The RRUFF Project |
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Antonio Alcaide
Site Admin
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 314
Location: Spain
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Posted: Dec 06, 2011 02:38 Post subject: Re: The Bill Pinch collection |
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Several weeks ago, Frederic Varela, moderator of the Spanish FMF, posted a short biography about William Pinch on the Spanish Forum. Now we have the translation into English (thanks to the careful checking by John S. White) that I post here as the ideal accompaniment to the Pinch's specimens shown above. Thank you very much to Frederic and John.
William Wallace Pinch is not an ordinary collector. Born in Rochester, New York, in 1940, he has managed to assemble a mineral collection that has a strong scientific signature. He defines his hobby not as a hobby, but as an obsession. His goal is that every mineral in his collection should have the potential of benefiting both the science and the collector. Thus, a true collector is one who is not satisfied with just the label information, he needs to know much more. Throughout his life he realized that cooperation between serious collectors, dealers and scientists enriches everybody’s knowledge and contributes to the advancement of the science of mineralogy.
The photos below was taken by the indefatigable Gail Spann, always helping us with her camera.
William W. Pinch stands out for his great and generous contributions to mineralogy through identifying type specimens for research and sharing them with the scientific community. He is a co-author of nearly twenty scientific articles and the discoverer of a new mineral species, a secondary mineral that occurs in hydrothermal mercury deposits, specifically at Terlingua, Texas, USA. This species was named pinchite in his honour. His earlier extraordinary collection, consisting of some 11,000 specimens, including almost 2,000 micromounts and some holotypes (the specimen from which a species was described), was acquired at the beginning of the 1990’s by the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada ( https://www.nature.ca ). Shortly thereafter he started creating a new collection, also outstanding, and it can be visited, thanks to his kind sharing of pictures of it in this thread on FMF: https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?p=18488#18488
It is generally acknowledged among many members in the academic field, especially in the Anglo-Saxon countries, that mineralogy is one of the sciences in which amateurs can still contribute significantly to the advancement of the science. The work of many mineral prospectors is crucial to the discovery of new species. Without this contribution, the knowledge of new minerals would advance much more slowly. Moreover, the discovery of new minerals is important because it provides a better understanding of geochemical processes which would be impossible to know by other means. Another important point is that a mineral is not considered to be properly described until the details of its crystalline structure are revealed. The samples needed in order to apply these analytic techniques must have specific features and, frequently when seeking such a specimen, it is the collector’s experienced eye –or the dealer’s- that finds the crystal for those studies. These last words are not mine, they were spoken in a tribute to William Pinch by Frank Hawthorne, honored professor of Geology and a specialist in mineralogy and crystallography at the University of Manitoba in Canada.
As an acknowledgment of the contribution made by collectors and mineral dealers all over the world, in 2001 The Mineralogical Association of Canada set up a biannual award for the recognition of those persons out of the academic community who contribute to the advance of mineralogy. The first award was given to William W. Pinch because of his having been the inspiration behind this award and the man who displayed great generosity and dedication in support of the science. In his honor, the award was named The Pinch Medal. The last award occurred February 11, 2011, in a ceremony celebrated during the Tucson show. The 2011 award was given to Alf Olav Larsen, an electric engineer, born in Norway, who contributed with his efforts to the description of six new mineral species.
William W. Pinch is beyond any doubt an inspiration to all collectors who have an intellectual curiosity about the minerals they collect, to all who consider their collection a source of self-knowledge and something to share outside of projects like the FMF Forum, where we have always tried to join efforts from the amateur world with that of the academic and professional. And, finally, William W. Pinch is an example and, if I may say, a “warning” to a part of the scientific community, those who often reject the amateur’s contributions to mineralogy. Amateurs very definitely can make important contributions.
As an accompaniment to this short biography, I would like to mention an anecdote in which Pinch himself, the well-known Spanish collector Joaquin Folch i Girona, and Jordi Fabre took part. It is told here: https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?t=108
The photos below were taken by the indefatigable Gail Spann, always helping us with her camera.
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William W. Pinch at the Denver Show 2009 |
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William W. Pinch posing with his medal that he won, it was the first edition of the trophy |
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The Pinch Medal is a prize awarded every two years by the Mineralogical Association of Canada, and is given to the people in the field of amateur mineralogy who have made an outstanding contribution to the science of mineralogy.
All photos: Gail Spann |
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John S. White
Site Admin
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1295
Location: Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted: Dec 07, 2011 06:26 Post subject: Re: The Bill Pinch collection |
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With urging from Jordi and Antonio, I am posting here a letter that I wrote a long time ago. It came about because I was requested by the Canadian Museum of Nature to assess the value of the Pinch collection prior to their agreeing to purchase it. Subsequently, there were rumors that they were not sure that the collection was as valuable as was claimed. This letter was written to justify the value of that remarkable collection:
Letter to the director of the National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa
It has come to my attention that there now exists some question as to whether or not the William Pinch mineral collection is actually worth 3.5 million dollars. Who can be absolutely certain what its value truly is? This collection is virtually impossible to evaluate. How does one calculate the value of a near life-long dedication to the pursuit of the best specimens of all of the minerals in the “kingdom,” conducted by someone who is perhaps the best collector the world has ever produced? I really don’t know. I do know, however, that if the Houston Museum of Natural History is prepared to raise 4 million to pay for it (as is advertised), then the Pinch collection is worth even more! The great strength of the Pinch collection is that it not only has extraordinary display quality specimens, but it is the best assemblage of fine rare specimens of great scientific value ever put together. One can always go out and find lots of beautiful crystal groups to grace an exhibit, but what Pinch has done can never be imitated. This is why it is so essential that the collection remain intact and that it end up in a major national Natural History Museum (and there really aren’t many of us left).
So, frankly, I think the Pinch collection is quite fairly priced. Not only could it not be reassembled for 3.5 million dollars, it couldn’t be reassembled for any amount of money. Who’s to say what the skills of a collector of Pinch’s stature are worth? That effort, alone, might be worth millions. Nevertheless, I feel confident that a competent appraiser could easily justify the price on a specimen-by-specimen basis. The problem is, of course, where does one find a competent appraiser? Every candidate I can think of is personally acquainted with bill (a friend or an enemy; people who are as driven as is bill usually generate lots of both) and, thus, could not be considered impartial. The task of appraising a collection of this magnitude is an awesome prospect. If we were dealing with items for which there are abundant sales records, that would be one thing. The Pinch collection contains hundreds (perhaps thousands) of specimens that are essentially the best that exist, or are equal to the best that exist. There is no simple equation permitting the extrapolation from the value of an average specimen to that of the best one. It would take months to appraise this collection, assuming you could find someone competent to do the job.
I don’t know if I have been successful in making my point, which is that the price being asked for the Pinch collection is perfectly reasonable. I hope that I have. I would be more that pleased to discuss the matter with you or any of your representatives at any time, of course. I am full of envy, as I would be thrilled to see the pinch collection come here.
John S. White
Smithsonian institution
March 29, 1989
_________________ John S. White
aka Rondinaire |
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Debbie Woolf
Joined: 09 Feb 2009
Posts: 168
Location: Kent
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Posted: Dec 07, 2011 07:10 Post subject: Re: The Bill Pinch collection |
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Fantastic information, thank you Gentlemen.
I am curious to know what the value of the collection is 20 years on ...
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