Strunzite with Stewartite (rare classic material) (ex Bob Reynolds Collection)

Item Description

This piece hails from the famous Hagendorf locality in Bavaria (though I'm not sure if it is from the North or South Pegmatite). The significance is that the South Pegmatite is the type locality for Strunzite, but the species is found at both places. With that said, these specimens are iconic in the micro / rarities collecting world, along with many other minerals from Hagendorf. This attractive near cabinet sized specimen features many attractive "sprays" consisting of straw-yellow colored Strunzite associated with yellow acicular crystals of Stewartite plus reddish-brown Whitmoreite sitting on a layer of nearly black Rockbridgeite on massive Quartz matrix. There is a pale yellow mineral on the specimen, which could be Pseudolaueite, but I can't say for sure. Since Stewartite is a polymorph of Pseudolaueite, it's possible that both species are present on the piece. The specimen is best seen under magnification, and we've photographed it with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. Both Strunzite and Stewartite are manganese iron phosphates (with attached hydroxy and water molecules), and their chemistry is virtually identical, except Stewartite has two more water molecules in its atomic structure. 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. Priced at $800 in our inventory.