Turquoise pseudomorph after Beryl (rare)

Item Description

Here we have an attractive thumbnail sized specimen featuring a rarely seen pseudomorph of Turquoise replacing Beryl from the Apache Mine in San Bernardino Co., California. The replacement of Turquoise after Beryl is rare in nature, and at first glance, I assumed that it was a replacement after Apatite (Fluorapatite) based upon the hexagonal shape of the crystals. This piece came originally from John Betts, who stated on mindat that the Beryl was, "Identified, based on morphology and trace samples of beryl, by Chesterman at the Ca. Div. of Mines and Geology". The beautiful blue Turquoise has preserved the preexisting hexagonal shape of the Beryl crystal, creating a replacement that is seldom seen in the minerals world. The pseudomorph measures 0.7 cm and is sitting on massive Quartz matrix.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 42.6.2.1 CA.1; 5919 George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information