Hydroxylherderite (twin) (ex Bob Reynolds Collection)

Item Description

A cool old-time specimen of what was formerly referred to as Herderite, but now is more specifically defined as Hydroxylherderite. This piece is from the famous Golconda Mine and features an attractive, sharp, well-formed "fish-tail" twin of Hydroxylherderite measuring 3.6 cm with purple "Lepidolite" on minor matrix. The Hydroxylherderite has a light tan coloring on the surface, possibly due to some kind of alteration or pseudomorphing, but you can see very light greenish-yellow colored areas on select faces. One side of the twin is contacted, so it's not damage free, but it's still a cool example of these classic and hard to find specimens from many years ago. From the collection of Robert (Bob) Reynolds who passed in August of 2020. 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.