Aikinite (rare) in Quartz

Item Description

Aikinite is a rare lead copper bismuth sulfosalt species, that was named after Arthur Aikin in 1843. The species forms a series with Bismuthinite, but is rarer to find in nature. This piece comes from Cucomungo Spring in Esmeralda County, Nevada and features metallic, silvery colored crystals of Aikinite measuring up to 1.1 cm long, partially frozen in massive white Quartz matrix. A cool locality specimen for any fan of rare minerals, sulfides / sulfosalts or minerals of the Western United States.
From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#8213). The piece is accompanied by labels from Mineralogical Research Company and John L. Parnau. This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.