Baryte (doubly-terminated) (ex Bill and Anne Cook Collection)

Item Description

This piece dates back to around 2014. It's a good example of they "silvery" colored Baryte crystals that have been on the market recently. This piece shows truly beautiful form for the species and the locality. A good sized, sharp, lustrous, translucent single crystal with the iconic thick prism and "chisel"-shaped termination on one end, and a more blunt termination on the other. The eye-catching color is singular, and truly does not resemble any Barytes we've seen from any other locality. The specimen is in remarkably fine condition with only one contact on the back where it was removed from the pocket wall. From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio. This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.