Hydroxylherderite (ex Bob Reynolds Collection)

Item Description

An old classic Herderite (Hydroxylherderite) from this famous of locality in Brazil. The Golconda pegmatite has produced some iconic mineral specimens dating back several decades. These old Herderites were found in the late 1960's-early 1970's and are some of the most well-known examples of the material from any Brazilian locality. This piece is a sharp, robust, well-formed, soft greenish-yellow to tan colored monoclinic crystal with minor attached Albite underneath. Although the crystal is only slightly translucent, the best attribute is that it has glistening luster on all sides. Good condition all around, though it has some separation marks where it was removed from the pocket, or possibly another Hydroxylherderite crystal. Please note, the labels accompanying this piece state that the crystal is twinned, but I don't see any defined twinning plane, so it's almost certainly a single un-twinned crystal. From the collection of Robert (Bob) Reynolds, with a label from well-known rarities deal, Joe Vajdak. Bob was a well-known fossil and mineral expert and former Curator of Earth Sciences at the San Bernardino County Museum in California. The rare phyllomanganate-chromate species Reynoldsite was named in his honor in 2011.