"Herschelite" / "Hershellite" (now Chabazite-Na) (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

This material was originally named "Hershelite" (mistakenly spelled "Herschellite" on Kay's label) and was first reported from Rupe di Aci Castello, Sicily, Italy. The material was later renamed Chabazite-Na in 1997, but old labels will retain the original species name. You can see small groups of off-white translucent Chabazite-Na nestled into a little vug in the volcanic rock matrix. The small white spherical mineral is most likely Gonnardite. The Chabazite-Na crystals seem to have an almost lamellar or polysynthetic style of twinning. Very hard to find on the market. Keep in mind that this is not the common cousin Chabazite-Ca, but a rare member of the Chabazite-Levyne Subgroup of the Zeolite Group. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#1862). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).