Gadolinite-(Ce)

Unknown Owner

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A huge gadolinite crystal from one of the old classic locales for this species, and from the John Sinkankas collection. It masses 583 grams which is very hefty when held, and is a giant crystal - the big ones seldom maintain such sharp form. Sinkankas, a renowned author and collector, noted its value as $125 in 1968 (he purchased for a bargain price of $20 in 1965 - but that was a lot of money then, too, for an ugly rock!), and wrote that it is "Very large, sharp, and exceptional" on his original label, an index card in his hand which accompanies the piece. I purchased this directly from John at his home in San Diego in about 1998, and sold it to collector Bob Nowakowski, who had a large suite of exceptional crystals of the Rare Earth Elements species. He held it until recently.