Cahnite with Manganaxinite (ex Pat Gross and Rich Kosnar Collections)

Item Description

Please note that the Cahnite crystals on this specimen were not photographed originally, and we added them after the piece had been posted. Sorry for the confusion.

A very important specimen of the rare (and HIGHLY sought after) calcium arsenic borate Cahnite from the world famous Franklin mine. The piece comes from the Rich Kosnar who obtained it from the Pat Gross collection, and the original plastic mounting box from Pat Gross shows the piece came from David Cook / Harvard University over 45 years ago! Cahnite was named after noted mineral dealer, Lazard Cahnite, and Franklin is the type locality for the species! The specimen hosts a gemmy, colorless, twinned tetrahedral group of Cahnite crystals with bladed yellow Manganaxinite and small reddish crystals which are most likely Epdiote-Pb (formerly Hancockite) on matrix. The closeup photos show that the Cahnite twin is fairly complete and very attractive for the species. Several of the Manganaxinite crystals are fully terminated as well. Cahnite is one of the holy grails for Franklin collectors, and good quality specimens are certainly few and far between on the market today.