Scheelite (excellent RARE locality specimen) (ex Bob Reyonlds Collection)

Item Description

This is quite possibly the best matrix display specimen of Scheelite from the Thompson Mine in Darwin, California that we've ever had to offer. Not only is it a showy and fine quality specimen, but it features multiple crystals with the distinctive elongated pseudo-octahedral habit, and satiny light silver colored appearance on the surface. The unusual slightly distorted appearance of the crystals is not unheard of for this locale, but it's certainly strange for the species in general. Like most Scheelites, these crystals show a vivid blue-white fluorescence under SW UV light. The piece is in very good condition on the front/display side, but it is contacted on the back. The largest Scheelite measures 3.1 cm at its longest dimension, which is very good sized for the material. If you collect tungsten minerals, specimens from California, fluorescent minerals, or if you're just a big fan Scheelite, do not miss out on this beautiful and fine quality example. The piece was priced in our inventory at $2,500. From the collection of Robert (Bob) Reynolds, and is accompanied by a couple old labels; one from Al's Minerals of Bloomington, Califorina, and another from Mark and Jeanette Rogers, which states the piece was part of the M. L. Leonardi Collection. For reference, the Rogers label had a price tag of $200 on it from decades ago, meaning this was a notably important piece back then to garner such a value. Bob Reynolds died in 2020, and 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.