Vanadinite (hollow crystals!)

Old Yuma Mine, Tucson Mountain District - Saguaro National Park, Amole Mining District, Tucson Mountains, Pima Co., Arizona, USA
Ex. George Loud; August ''Andy'' Dietz; Sean Sweeny
Small Cabinet, 5.3 x 3.2 x 2.3 cm
Start Time: 01/23/2025 8:00:00 pm (CST)
End Time: 02/02/2025 6:00:00 pm (CST)
Auction Closed
Winning Bid: $337

Item Description

A classic Old Yuma Vanadinite, one of the premier localities for the species, not just in Arizona but anywhere in the US. This large miniature / small cabinet sized piece hosts several excellent, very sharp, glowing orange-red colored, hexagonal crystals measuring up to 7 mm, sitting on translucent, colorless Calcite on matrix. The crystals almost remind me of Crocoite in terms of color and reflectiveness / luster. The most interesting and alluring aspect to the piece is that when you look down the "c" axis of certain crystals, you can see they are completely HOLLOW down the middle, so they're essentially "tube"-like "shells" of Vanadinite. This is obviously a form of skeletal / "hoppered" growth, but exaggerated in a way that the central portion of the crystals are non-existent, and only the exterior remains. A really cool example of this fine quality, well-known material with fantastic morphology.
This piece originally was part of the collection of August "Andy" Dietz, and Sean Sweeny.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 41.7.2.3 AZ.4; 2144. 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

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Bidding History

Bid Amount Bid Time
$337 02/01/2025 10:37:41 pm (CST)
$327 02/01/2025 10:36:27 pm (CST)
$325 02/01/2025 10:36:27 pm (CST)
$106 02/01/2025 10:02:14 pm (CST)
$96 02/01/2025 10:02:14 pm (CST)
$85 01/29/2025 10:13:48 pm (CST)
$75 01/24/2025 10:08:11 am (CST)
$66 01/24/2025 10:08:11 am (CST)
$10 01/24/2025 12:17:55 am (CST)