The best specimen in your collection

My best specimen is a lump of coal, its awesome.

Jason,

Was that a Christmas present?

Nope I found it at the nearby minature railway, it's shiny and I think It's Anthracite which reminds me of home (South Wales)

I really can't decide on a "best" specimen, but here is one that I like because of its history. I had some specimens that had come from the collection of Alfred C. Hawkins. For some reason I purchased a copy of his "Book of Minerals" which contained a picture of a gypsum specimen collected in France by Henry A. Ward (1834-1906). After some time, I realized that I owned the specimen in the picture. It was included in a group of minerals that I had bought on a "buy them all or none" basis. I later found out that this offer had previously been made to a well known dealer, who had turned it down. Based on the type of label, I concluded that it had come from Hawkins' collection.

Thats a very hard question to answer, i have a number of specimens that fit that description, some larger specimens than this one,
i have had this piece for over 30 years & although it being a miniature, i'd say it's one of my best specimens.

Wulfenite
Los Lamentos.
Mexico.

My favorite specimen, by far, is one that my future wife and I purchased in NYC in 1979 (at the time, my fiance said, what, you're buying a rock??)...
Sitting on a chair, waiting its turn to be placed on a moving truck, I spied it as we walked by.
Asked the owner if he was interested in selling the piece.
Yes, he replied. I asked if he knew where it was from; "not a clue".
I knew that, in 1979, this piece had to be from So. California, and most likely the Himalaya mine.
That has been confirmed by several major dealers.
Measurements: 13" wide X 9" high X 9" deep.
I believe that it is a historical, museum piece, which was probably mined during the 1950 - 1960s (Ralph Potter era).
Tourmaline Gem Pocket, with numerous pink, green, multicolored elbaites, huge perthite xls., quartz xls., lepidolite and clevelandite blades.

That's one heck of a nice rock, David!

David:

What Jim said! And I hope your wife has come to appreciate your logic on these matters. I'm sure it worked out to be a good deal as quality aside, the Himalaya Mine locality alone commands a high price these days.

I have seen everyone struggle to determine their best specimen. I know it is often like asking to name your favorite child, but it was a no brainer for me. This sample was a PhD gift to me from my adviser. I had published a paper in American Mineralogist on the defect structures of this mineral (not on this sample). It is very special to me for that reason, and I figured this post would motivate me to take a picture of it (kind of grainy...) and post it finally. I know it is a blob of green (my wife says it looks like mold...), but I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

-Harris

Easy, I never get tired of looking at this specimen.

Gosh, how does one choose?

I don't think I can really commit to one favourite (hence the favourite of the day thread) but this one does rank pretty high on my list.
I have never been satisfied with the photos I've tried to take of this specimen otherwise I probably would have posted it before.
Vesuvianite is one of my favourite minerals, and the colourful Jeffrey specimens had me hooked from the start, especially being from a Canadian locale. That being said I was instantly intrigued when these frosted rootbeer barrells from Pakistan made their first appearance on the scene. Not as colourful as the Jeffreys or Norwegian cyprine for that matter, but boy did they have personality! I obtained this one a number of years ago when there were only 3 pics in the database so I was pretty thrilled with it as there wasn't much of this around at the time. Still not the best photos, but just going with it.

Vesuvianite with minor Clinochlore
Alchuri (Alchori; Aschudi), Shigar Valley, Skardu District, Baltistan, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan
Approx 3.5cm x 3cm

Awesome choices everyone, nice eclectic mix. Craig and Harris, you guys were posting same time as I was, great stuff.

Steph, you are correct about how difficult these specimens are to photograph, I must have taken over 100 photographs of the attached specimen since I have had it, and as you can see I will probably need to take 100 more before I get a good one.

If this thread was for your second best specimen, well this would be mine, I love it.

My favourite, found after 8 years of digging, is this native silver specimen from Scotland's historic Alva silver mine.

[www.mindat.org]

And my second favourite, another example, but crystallised as cubes rather than dendrites.

[www.mindat.org]

Old time specimens from this 1715 discovery are almost unheard of, and modern ones got by digging the waste heap are nearly all micro or thumbnail, so these two are exceptional, and give a hint at what wonders must have been consigned to the melting pot. The story of the mine is also extraordinary as it was discovered at the same time as the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 and its owner, Sir John Erskine, joined the rebels leaving his wife in charge of the mine. A remarkable story of conspiracy and betrayal followed as the Erskines tried to keep the mine secret until a treacherous employee left and told the government. Sir Isaac Newton assayed the ore and described it as "exceeding rich". The Erskines cleverly exploited an old Scots law to secure a pardon for Sir John, conditional on the government inspecting the mine and claiming a 10% share. Their report of 1717 showed the vein up to 3 feet thick, with one foot of this being native silver ore. Imagine a one foot thick rib of ore like the pieces pictured here! Sir John went on to make a fortune from the mine before the bonanza was exhausted. The mine was later reworked for cobalt, another story in its own right. For those interested in the astonishing true story of Britain's richest silver mine read my book "Bonanzas and Jacobites" available from National Museums Scotland.

Hey Craig, that's cheating!!! Nice glossy vesuvianite in any case.

Stephen, those silvers are extra special. Thanks for sharing them.

stephanie

this is a trick ?
looking at all my rocks and trying to pick just one hmm thats tough but after a week of thought this is it
[www.mindat.org]
only becuase i have a good idea of what it took to get this out of the ground and all the way to market without doing more damage then was done

mike

Stephanie Martin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gosh, how does one choose?
>

That was the point, Stephanie! I knew it would be a challenging and thought-provoking question, which is why I thought this would be a fun little thread to start.

Great specimens and stories behind them so far; thanks for participating everyone!!

Because everyone is showing his favourite specimens, I'll show them, too.

No. 1: Stibnite from Kadamzhai, Kyrgyzstan (36 x 31 mm)
No. 2: Fluorite on Quartz, on the other side also Sericite from Akchatau, Kazakhstan (78 x 57 mm)
No. 3: Baryte from Huariwain Mine, Peru (80 x 45 mm)

Greetings
Steven