Hydroxylapatite (rare)

Item Description

This specimen was originally labeled as Chlorapatite, the chlorine dominant analogue of Fluorapatite, but it's in fact Hydroxylapatite. For a long time all of these minerals were simply labeled as Apatite, but analysis showed they are truly individual species, not varieties of a greater mineral, and Hydroxylapatite is one of the rarer "Apatites" you can find in nature. This piece is a wonderful, sharp, well-formed, stout hexagonal crystal, free of matrix with a matte pale beige hue on the surface. There are some tiny Quartz crystals embedded on the surface. The piece is in very good condition, with no damage that I can find, outside of the base where it was separated from the pocket wall. The given locality on the labels is "Oksoykollen", but it's clearly from the Oksøyekollen apatittbrudd in Snarum. With that said, this is a very good example of the species, larger than most I've seen, and not at all distorted or crude. If you collect rarities, this is something that would make a fantastic addition to any collection.
From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#13615). 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.