FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[chris]

Hello Pierre,

It could be an order too. Some years ago, a burglary took place at a French collector's home while he was away. The thieves only took one (exceptionnal) specimen. Nothing else was taken away. From what I know (not much) it was never recovered.

Christophe

[Pierre Joubert]

[David]

It is regrettable that these things happen. Moreover, such thefts are likely to happen on demand. Really now, unlike gold or diamonds, natural raw minerals are not a very liquid commodity. For most people their only value would be if they were cut and inserted into some sort of jewelry if possible. In such cases it is most likely that the person who actually benefited from the theft was familiar with the collection, maybe he or she even visited the place and knew the owner well.
My suggestion is to make a complete inventory of what was actually taken and see if a pattern or preference emerges (most likely). After that, look into who would likely desperately want such pieces. Even if none of those people actually had anything to do with this, the perpetrators might have tried to sell them some of the items, at least for the sake of establishing the market value of what they’ve stolen and see if the person who commanded the robbery is paying them a fair price.
Just a thought: nothing is irreplaceable besides human beings. I hope that he will be able to rise an even more spectacular collection than the one he lost.
I cannot help but to remark that when I announced almost a year ago the theft at the Romanian Museum of Mineralogy in Baia Mare, no one seemed to bother, I received no comment what so ever, like nobody at all cared about this besides the museum’s curators. Sadly one of them is not among us anymore.

[Fiebre Verde]

The photos featuring "Yesterday's most viewed images" reminded me of that spectacular theft I had almost forgotten about.
Were any of the stolen specimens eventually recovered?

[Jordi Fabre]