Natural History - Calcite and Hematite on Pyrite Crystal Specimen

A nickel-iron meteorite (IAB) set with a suspension loop and hung from a cord. 8 grams, 34 mm



From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

A crater field of roughly 26 craters was found in the vicinity of this crater, which is estimated to date to 4-5 thousand years BP. The age of the meteorite itself is thought to be c.4.5 billion years, formed as part of the development of this solar system. The largest two fragments, the 30.8 ton Gancedo and 28.8 ton El Chaco, are among the heaviest meteorite masses ever recovered on Earth. In 1576, the governor of a province in Northern Argentina commissioned the military to search for a large mass of iron, which it was believed the local people claimed had fallen from the sky and which they used for their weapon production. The expedition discovered a large mass of metal which was assumed to be an iron mine and brought back a few samples, which were described as being of unusual purity. Following the legends, in 1774 Don Bartolomé Francisco de Maguna rediscovered the iron mass. He himself did not believe that the stone had fallen from the sky and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. However, he sent the samples to the Royal Society of London. In 1990 it became protected by law.

Comprising: botryoidal psilomelane from Stanislawow, Poland, collection number 608, with an old Geologisch Centrum, Netherlands, label; rosasite and calcite on goethite and limonite from Mapimi, Durango, Mexico, collection number 61; sphalerite on quartz, collection number 187; pyrite from Italy, collection number 339; a cut and polished crazy laced agate nodule, collection number 299; chalcopyrite on baryte, collection number 238; celestine from Malagasy Republic, Africa, collection number 29; calcite on pyrite from Levant Mine, Cornwall, England, collection number 474; calcite from England, collection number 102. 1 kg total, 36-89 mm



Acquired on the UK mineral and fossil market, since 1970. From the historic mineral collection of Richard Valentine Cain, London, UK, thence by descent. Eight specimens accompanied by an original historic index file card.

The majority of Canis teilhardi skull in matrix with some other bone fragments. 1.28 kg, 19 cm



From the private collection of a London gentleman formed since 2003.