Mystery label

Do you recognize the attached old collection label? It is attached to the bottom of a small, tan color, paper covered box that is 2 1/2 X 1 5/8” across. The collection number 62,843 is printed in black ink written on a light turquoise blue color painted background. Judging from the number of specimens in the collection, the mystery collector must have been around for quite a while! It could be a label from a European collection, by the way the matrix is described, and the way the locality information is given.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Sharon

I can't answer your question, Sharon, but I'm more inclined to think that's an American collection label than a European one.

I've never seen this label/box combo before but I agree with Alfredo. It is more likely to be American and quite old.

Mystery solved! The label is for a specimen I originally purchased from Tony Jones. Tony apparently purchased the specimen from Wayne Leicht as part of a wholesale lot. I have filled in some of the blanks about the provenance of this label by sending an inquiry to Dona Leicht. As a result of my emailing a copy of the label to Dona, Wayne called me. He told me the Boleite label was from the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of Science. Apparently Wayne, Bryan Lees and Ian Bruce purchased a portion of the Academy’s collection in 2007. Wayne says this specimen was part of the Academy’s back-up collection. Wayne recognized the label as one having been prepared by Bob Middleton. From what Wayne described, it seems the Academy’s collection was divided into several sub-collections. The Boleite specimen was a part of their catalogued sub-collection of minerals, but was not labeled with one of the Academy’s printed labels. I have since found the history of the sale of this portion of the collection in the “MR”, Axis, Vol. 2, No. 5.

Sharon