Monazite (doubly-terminated) (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful old-time Monazite from the Madiaomby Pegmatite in Madagascar featuring a single, sharp, lustrous, well-formed, rich reddish colored tabular crystal of Monazite (presumably Monazite-(Ce)) free of matrix. The crystal is complete on all sides, and is actually DOUBLY-TERMINATED! I won't go so far as to say it's a complete "floater", but it's close. If you collect phosphate species, thumbnails or minerals of Madagascar, I'll bet you don't have one of these in your collection. From the worldwide mineral collection of Albert Lewis Kidwell (January 1, 1919 - August 16, 2008). Al was a well-known mineral collector and research geologist with Carter Oil Company and later Exxon Oil Company in Houston, Texas. The phosphate species Kidwellite was named in his honor in 1974.