Vanadinite (historic piece) (ex Rich Kosnar and Walt Lidstrom specimen)

Item Description

Moroccan Vanadinites have set the standard for the species worldwide, and despite their abundance on the market today, they made a big splash on the market nearly 50 years ago. This piece comes from the private collection of Richard Kosnar (the namesake for Kosnarite) who, according to the label, obtained it from the very first lot of specimens to arrive in the United States from Mibladen. The lot was purchased in 1972 by US dealer Rick Smith (one of the namesake for Ludlockite) and offered initially for $15,000 at the Detroit Show. Kosnar turned down the lot, but it was later purchased by his partner, Walt Lidstrom. The label goes on to say that Lidstrom ended up selling the lot for $14,700 showing that the despite the quality of the specimens, the market still wasn't ready to spend big money for them. Kosnar purchased this piece from Lidstrom to have a keepsake of the first pieces of this material to end up in the US market. This piece certainly shows a different "style" that what we associate with Mibladen Vanadinites featuring fairly isolated, dark red color, tabular hexagonal crystals measuring up to 7 mm sprinkled on a tan colored matrix. Very good quality, and nearly every crystal is pristine. A cool old "time capsule" specimen dating back many decades.