Fluorapophyllite-(K) (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

A rarely seen specimen of Fluorapophyllite-(K) featuring dozens of very gemmy, thin, tabular, colorless blades measuring up to about 6 mm sitting atop a reddish-grey matrix labeled as coming from near Houghton, Michigan. The little crystals are fine quality up close and look beautiful under magnification. The piece was formerly in the collection of Paul Smith who is in the micromineralogists Hall of Fame, but was also the chief tax accessor for Fairfax County, Virginia. Additionally the piece was once part of the collection of Belmont Abbey College.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 435 MI.1; 8595 George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information