Vanadinite (classic material - old specimen)

Item Description

The famed Vanadinites from Mibladen, Morocco have set the standard for the species worldwide. They first hit the market in the early 1970s, and although they are still plentiful on the market today, they have never been surpassed in terms of quality or quantity from anywhere else in the world. This piece comes from the private collection of Richard ("Rich") A. Kosnar (1946-2007), who was the namesake for rare zirconium phosphate mineral Kosnarite, along with being one of the top mineral collectors and dealers of his era. Rich obtained the piece from a very lot of specimens to arrive in the United States from Mibladen. The lot was purchased in 1972 by Rich's business partner, Walt Lidstrom. Kosnar purchased this piece from Lidstrom to have a keepsake of the first pieces of this material to end up in the US market. This piece features wonderful, dark red color, fairly thick, tabular hexagonal crystals measuring up to 1.2 cm sprinkled on a tan colored matrix. Very good quality, and nearly every crystal is pristine. A cool old "time capsule" specimen dating back many decades. Valued at $2,000.