Analcime (OLD historic specimen from the type locality) (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

Analcime is an uncommon zeolite species, that is found around the world, typically in volcanic deposits. The most common habit for the species is a trapezohedron {211}, but the pieces from the type locality on the Cyclopean Islands of Sicily, Italy feature rarely seen CUBE {100} faces like this piece. This antique specimen hosts a very sharp, highly lustrous, notably GEMMY, colorless crystal with a combination of both trapezohedral and cubic faces measuring 1.1 cm sitting on volcanic rock matrix. The piece comes with a fantastic antique hand-written label in German, but it's difficult to read. The good news is that the numbers on the label match the numbers on the base of the specimen, so you know they belong to one another. The label from Al Kidwell erroneously states that this piece is from the "Cyclopeninsel (Cyclopean Islands), Switzerland". I think the confusion came from the fact that the label was written in German, but make no mistake, this piece is from Italy. With that said, it's a remarkably fine specimen that could possibly date back a couple hundred years, as the Analcime was first described from the type locality in 1797. You NEVER see these on the market, and if you're a collector of zeolite minerals, antique specimens, or specifically minerals from the type locality, you CANNOT afford to pass this one up, as we may never have another like it to offer in the auctions, especially with such a wonderful old hand-written label. It's difficult to put a value on a piece like this, but I could easily see it in the $700-$1,000 range based upon all of the aforementioned criteria. As mentioned, this piece is from the worldwide mineral collection of Albert (Al) Lewis Kidwell (January 1, 1919 - August 16, 2008). Al was a well-known mineral collector and research geologist with Carter Oil Company and later Exxon Oil Company in Houston, Texas. The phosphate species Kidwellite was named in his honor in 1974.