Pargasite (originally labeled as Fluoro-cannilloite) (ex Bill Pinch Collection)

Item Description

PLEASE NOTE: This specimen was originally labeled as Fluoro-cannilloite coming from Yuang Yang, Yunnan, China, but this is completely false. Several years ago, Chinese dealers started bringing mineral specimens into the village of Yuang Yang for sale across the neighboring border of Vietnam. As a matter of fact, there are no reported minerals from Yuang Yang, and anything you see labeled from this locality originally came from Luc Yen in the Yenbai Province of Vietnam. Additionally, these specimens were all labeled as Fluoro-cannilloite, but in fact have been proven to be Pargasite. With that said, this specimen is a nice representative piece of this amphibole species featuring bright green, lustrous, prismatic crystals measuring up to 8 mm frozen in white marble matrix. More of a reference piece than anything else, but the interesting history with the labeling confusing makes for a cool story. From the collection of Bill Pinch (1940 - 2017) of Rochester, New York. Bill was one of the most accomplished mineral collectors in the world, along with being a noted amateur mineralogist. He had a tremendous knowledge of rare species, especially minerals of Tsumeb, and famously owned the well-known specimen of Andyrobertsite on the cover of the Mineralogical Record. The halide Pinchite was named in his honor, as well as the Pinch Medal, which is issued by the Mineralogical Association of Canada for contributions to the advancement of mineralogy by members of the collector-dealer (non-professional) community.