Spessartine Garnet (rare Arizona locality)

Item Description

An attractive Spessartine Garnet specimen from the Aquarius Mountains of Arizona, reminiscent of the famous material from Garnet Hill, Nevada. The piece features a single, fine quality, sharp, well-formed, dark red color, trapezohedron measuring 1.1 cm which is nicely set on the light pinkish-brown contrasting volcanic matrix. Fine quality matrix display specimens of Spessartine are RARE from Arizona, and this is a very worthwhile piece to add to a collection of worldwide Garnets or Arizona minerals. From the collection of Chester ("Chet") S. Lemanski Jr. of Browns Mills, New Jersey (https://www.mindat.org/user-461.html). Collection #2119CL. Chet's catalogue mentions that this piece was "A former Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Moscow, specimen (no label) sold at the Munich show by the Curator." Chet was born 1947 in started collecting minerals circa 1957. He worked briefly as a drill runner at the famous Sterling Mine, in Ogdensburg, New Jersey and from 1987 to 1990 he helped convert the mine into a public access mining museum. He has held the role of treasurer, vice president and president of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society (FOMS), and has been a board member and vice president of the Franklin Mineral Museum. The rare copper arsenate, Lemanskiite was named in his honor in 1999.