Tourmaline (NYC locale!) ex. James Manchester Coll. c. 1920

Item Description

The epitome of urban mineral specimens come from New York City. They may not be the finest of a species, but they are so desirable and uncommon. And this piece has a superb provenance, having been in the collection of author and field geologist James Manchester, author of "Minerals of New York City and Environs" in 1931. This is the major work on NYC mineral specimens, and he was the major authority. Here, a mirror-luster, 2.6 cm, dark brown dravite/unvite crystal with spots of gemminess is embedded in quartz. The negative impression of a stout, 1.9 cm tourmaline is near by. Dravite/uvite is extremely rare from New York City and this could be a unique survivor. Importantly, Manchester's original cloth label is glued to the back of the specimen. Ex Howard Belsky Collection. What is such a piece worth? It is hard to say, but we thought $400-500 as a guage.