Romeite (now Pyrochlore Supergroup)

Item Description

Originally, the species Romeite was named in 1841 by Augustin Alexis Damour after Jean-Baptiste Louis Rome de L'Isle, who was a French mineralogist and "father of crystallography". The name has been made into a series by IMA nomenclature revision in 2010, and is no longer a valid species. This piece originally was part of Josef Vajdak's inventory (dated 2002 when Romeite was a legit species), and even stated that it was the first time the mineral had been reported from California. The "Romeite" is the brownish-yellow areas, associated with Senarmontite according to the label. This is the ONLY piece of this material that we've seen from California, and as I mentioned, comes with a classic label from Josef Vajdak / Pequa Rare Minerals, which immediately increases the value. You can read Joe's biography here: http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1371