FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Tobi]

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello, Tobi.
It's very kind of you. Thanks a lot. I'm glad you found it interesting.

Tuscan cinnabar and its associations.

Warm greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Since I'm on the subject of cinnabar, here is one of the many stories that happen to a collector.
A few years ago, in a Tuscan fair I saw on the table of an exhibitor from Milan a big piece of cinnabar from the Siele mine which attracted my attention.
Unfortunately it was only half of the original specimen. The other half had been sold a few minutes earlier to a collector I knew.
I went in search of him and, in fact, I met him and politely asked if he would sell me back his half. He didn't want to sell, but he preferred to exchange it for another important Tuscan piece.
At this point I was able to bring together again the two pieces and put in my collection the biggest mamillary formation of cinnabar I have ever seen.

Greetings from Tuscany. Stay safe.
Sante

[Tobi]

Hi Sante,

again you made me speechless with your incredible specimens. Sure, those "strawberry" cinnabars are not that aesthetic, but to have such a specimen of 27 (!) cm in your private collection must be great. I'm sure that many museums envy you for that giant berry, even museums in Italy. Really magnificent, maybe not a beauty, but nevertheless a true stunner you don't see very day!

And the story connected to this specimen makes it even greater. I remember several of such "separated at birth" stories. Rob Lavinsky once had a giant aquamarine from Pakistan (I think it was about 30 cm too) that actually consisted of two halfs and then was by chance discovered as two fitting parts of a giant one. And I know a similiar story about an exceptional giant yellow smithsonite from Sardinia ...

Wonderful :-)

Stay safe & keep posting!
Tobi

[Don Lum]

I think Rob also had a really nice Fluorite specimen which had been separated at some point and he reunited the two parts together.

[Sante Celiberti]

Thank you very much, Tobi and Don.

Yes, there are many curious stories around these reunions.
In Adalberto Giazotto's collection there is a 40 cm Pakistani beryl that he nicknamed "Pinocchio" (a wooden puppet with a long nose). After buying the main crystal in which only the mark of a smaller crystal remained, he noticed in another very peripheral shop a beryl whose section could coincide with the missing one and for inspiration he bought it. It was really Pinocchio's nose!

Well, my specimens are not remotely comparable with those mentioned in the anecdotes of collecting, but when I come across something unusual, especially if they are from Tuscany, I can't resist.

Here is another modest cinnabar with a small story.

Warm greetings from Tuscany.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Gavorrano is also known, at least in Italy, for its amethystine quartzes.
This piece was a gift from a miner who was about to throw it away.
Forty years ago I accepted it without particular enthusiasm: I didn't like it very much. Today I appreciate it much more.

Warm greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

The Pereta mine is known for its good samples of antimony minerals, but it also provided some interesting specimens of secondary sulfur.

Warm greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

A cubic pyrite from Gavorrano extracted in the fifties in a survey that proved unproductive for the exploitation of the mineral..!
I saw the piece, only for display, in a barber shop in a city near Gavorrano. The father of the barber, former miner in Gavorrano and still alive, had personally mined it. I managed to talk to him and he told me the story of the survey and of the specimen.
I've never worked so hard to acquire a pyrite of Gavorrano.

Warm greetings.
Sante

[Don Lum]

[Tobi]

[Sante Celiberti]

Thank you, Don, for your kind words. I'm happy you like it.
That was the only time I didn't care the haircut quality: I was focused only on pyrite and how many months I had to give up smoking and coffee in order to pay for it. I'm joking. :-) :-) :-)
Receive my sincere greetings and take care.

Hello, Tobi. I much appreciate your friendly comment.
I'm quite satisfied with the Italian section of my collection which occupies the 70% of the total.
I guess you also, as most of us, have a greater attraction as well as easier accessibility to minerals of your country. I remember how dertermined you chased your galena from Neudorf...
My best greetings. Stay safe.

Sulphur is reported in dozens of Tuscan localities. Although not always aesthetic, the Italian collectors appreciate it very much.

Greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

A calcite from Gavorrano.

Warm greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Some specimens from Tuscany.

Warm greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Still from Tuscany.

Greetings.
Sante

[Tobi]

Superb specimens as usual. That 14 x 10 cm pyrite from Niccioleta Mine is a killer, I also love that fluorite from Campiano Mine!

Great show, please let it go on :-)

Regards & stay safe!
Tobi

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello, Tobi.

Thank you for your kind words. Greetings from Gavorrano.

Still from Tuscany.

Stay safe.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Three small specimens from Tuscany.

Greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Something more from Tuscany. Apologize for the bad quality of the photos, but I wasn't able to do better.

Warm greetings.
Sante

[Sante Celiberti]

Hello.

Two specimens from Livorno Province.

Best regards.
Sante