Lorenzenite (rare classic material)

Item Description

A wonderful old-time classic specimen of Lorenzenite from the Selsurt Mountain locality in Russia. These specimens are often labeled as coming from the Khibiny Massif or Lovozero Massif, but Selsurt Mountain is much more accurate. This locale has produced the finest and most well-known examples of the species ever found. This piece is a fine quality example of this rare sodium titanium silicate featuring a sharp, well-formed, prismatic crystal of a dark reddish-brown single crystal, free of matrix. The piece is in good shape, though one end is contacted, so it's not 100% pristine. If you collect rare minerals, this is a good piece to add to your collection, and they are not as common the market as they were years ago. There is an old Russian label accompanying the piece, which refers the species as "рамсайи" (Ramsayite), which is an archaic name for Lorenzenite, but even the old famous Russian locality for the material is referred to as Ramsayite Point. From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#11389). 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.