Wulfenite (rare antique Nevada locality)

Item Description

An incredibly rare specimen of Wulfenite labeled as coming from Richmond, Nevada, and old ghost town that was known for producing silver as far back as the 1860s (see https://www.nvexpeditions.com/lander/richmond.php). The specimen is well over 100 years old because there is a label glued to the back from Albert Edward Foote, one of the great mineral collectors, mineralogists and dealers in the United States in the late 19th Century. Foote died in 1895, so this piece is at least 130 years old! This is without a doubt the ONLY specimen of Wulfenite that we've ever had to offer from area. This piece features a coverage of hundreds of sharp, lustrous, thin platy crystals of butterscotch colored Wulfenites measuring up to about 4 mm, on matrix. I will point out that most of the crystals are contacted, but if you look closely with a loupe, you can find some excellent undamaged crystals. If you collect Wulfenites, minerals of Western United States or specifically Nevada, this is about as rare as it gets, and the superb pedigree from Foote makes it all the more enticing and worthwhile.
From the collection of Robert (Bob) Reynolds. Bob 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. The piece is accompanied by a label from noted collector Al McGuinness.