FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Wynnek]

I was thinking about how each collector is just a caretaker in the hopefully long life of a specimen, and thought it might be fun to show some specimens in my collection from people I have corresponded/traded with who have passed on. The first one is from Curt Segeler's collection. I wrote to him back in the early 80's for help in identifying some unknowns from Dunton quarry in Newry, Maine. He was always generous with his time and knowledge and extremely helpful. After he died, a dealer who came to the Maine Mineral Symposium one year was dispersing some of his material, and I bought this flos ferri aragonite, both because I love this type of aragonite, and in memory of Mr. Segeler.

Wynne

[Wynnek]

Next one shows three specimens from Tom Moran from Techapi, California, USA. He was a long-time trading partner and sent me specimens from Death Valley in CA and Gold Hill in Utah. After he died of cancer in mid-life, his wife sent me a celestine that I treasure to this day, in memory of him. That celestine is on the right side of the picture. The celestine on the left was one I got in trade from Tom, and the one in back is an aragonite from Gold Hill.

[Peter]

Very nice! I am glad to see that some fellow collectors also appreciate the human side of the best people in the mineral spectrum of interest.
I also have several specimens I highly treasure because they came from people I highly appreciated and respected for their kindness, sharing attitude, deep interest, incredible knowledge. One is Dr Frederick Pough, another Dr John Sinkankas, a third Dr Richard Gaines.

[Wynnek]

Peter,
It would be nice if you could post pictures of those specimens, although you may have to use a different thread, as this part of the forum is for women collectors ;-)

The next specimen I wanted to post is from Ernie Schlichter, who died very recently. He regularly came as a mineral dealer to the Maine Mineral Symposium, and was one of my favorite dealers to visit. I bought this specimen near the end of his life and had the impression that it was from his own collection.

[Jordi Fabre]

I would like to point out this thread of Wynne that maybe for the date when started, a little bit before Tucson Show, seems don't have collected the positive comments that her initiative deserves. From my side I applaud Wynne and I would ask her to continue, if possible, with her wonderful thread.

[Gail]

Hurrah! I am all about this thread!!!!
Well done Wynne. Keep adding more photos please?

[Brooks]

Excellent thread.

[rameen]

Nice post. I like it. Thanks for sharing these information. Keep it up.

[Mark Ost]

I also like this idea. The minerals will stay long after all of us are gone, so ownership is a fleeting and ultimately false idea. Each one of us is but a temporary caretaker. The real value of the minerals is not in ownership but in how many people, less fortunate than us, get to enjoy seeing these treasures. Also the other caretakers you meet along the way.

[Jesse Fisher]

I've always found that knowing the history of a specimen, particularly ones from old and "classic" localities adds value (intellectual, if not monetary) to a specimen. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, a lot of dealers (and some collectors) seem to obfuscate the details of past ownership (sometimes intentionally, sometimes through carelessness), making the history of specimens difficult if not impossible to reconstruct.

Back in the mid 1980s, when we were first getting serious about mineral collecting, we acquired an interesting beryl from the Transbaikal region of Russia. At the time the Soviet Union was a largely closed off place and specimens such as this were quite a novelty. We were told by the dealer we got it from that the specimen was pictured (all-be-it in black & white) in Sinkankas' books "Emeralds and Other Beryls" and "Mineralogy for Amateurs."

My father, like Sinkankas, had been an officer in the US Navy, and they had known each other, at least casually, when both were stationed in San Diego during the mid 1950s. Using this as an introduction of sorts, I sent him a photo of the crystal and ask if he could give me any information on it. He replied that he had originally acquired it from the American Museum of Natural History and later sold it on to Bill Larson. From this I was able to trace it through two subsequent owners. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way any accompanying labels (including Sinkankas' distinctive collection card) were separated from the specimen and any collection numbers were removed. I recall contacting the AMNH but was told that without their accession number they couldn't tell me anything further about its history. I know that mining at this location dates back to the 18th century, so the specimen could have come from an old collection such as Bement's, but I guess we'll never know for sure.

[Jordi Fabre]

[bob kerr]

To keep up with the theme of this excellent thread - here are some historical specimens that I picked up at the Flagg Mineral Show in Mesa this past weekend. They are from the Dave Shannon "2X2" Collection that is being slowly put onto the market.

If you were fortunate enough to visit Dave's house before he passed away, you would've been treated to wall after wall covered with these specimens - most all of which we collected personally by Dave.

Here's three of the ones I picked up.

bob

[Michael Shaw]

I'm happy to see that this thread has taken on a new life after 5 years. In the art and antiquities world, provenance is of great importance - increasing the value of the object and often providing a basis for authentication.

While mostly for different reasons, knowing the history of a mineral specimen definitely adds value in my mind. Unlike art, the added value may not be monetary, but knowledge of the history of a specimen can provide scientific value that is useful in placing the specimen in historical context, and perhaps provide information important for the reconstruction of the history of a deposit.

For me as a collector, knowing the provenance of a mineral specimen provides an unseen but unique connection to past collectors and/or museums, and allows for a greater appreciation of this hobby.

The following specimen is one that I posted recently in my collection thread. It's not an especially valuable specimen, just a good representative of the location. It once belonged to John Sinkankas and it means much more to me knowing this.

Michael

[Michael Shaw]

Here is another specimen that is presented in honor of Samuel Gordon. Gordon was a noted American mineralogist who authored "The Minerals of Pennsylvania", described 9 new mineral species, founded the "American Mineralogist", and was Curator of Minerals at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. While at the latter institution, he undertook many foreign collecting expeditions that added greatly to the Academy's collections. This specimen of uraninite with gummite was collected by Gordon at the Ruggles Mine in 1937 and deposited in the Academy collection. The piece is a special part of my collection, not only because it was collected by Gordon, but I was fortunate to be able to collect at the same locality 25 years later.
Michael

[Jordi Fabre]