Natural History - Pyrite 'Fools Gold' Specimen Group [100]

Comprising: scolecite from Peru, collection number 437; granite from the A40 construction works, Middlesex, England, collection number 507; sulphur from Mexico, collection number 65; chalcopyrite, collection number 317; green calcite from Missouri, USA, collection number 241, with old James Walker label and invoice dated 1977; legrandite from Mexico, collection number 490, with an old Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd label; malachite from Tsumeb, South West Africa, collection number 448, with an old Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd label; bornite on chalcopyrite, collection number 210; agate geode half, collection number 385. 675 grams total, 37-74 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.

A rare eucrite meteorite slice recorded as: Northwest Africa 11576; displayed in a Swiss membrane box, inked inscription ' NWA 11576' to one edge. 20 grams, 38 mm (76.3 grams total, 99 x 75 mm including case)



From North West Africa (Mali). Ex SV-Meteorites, Prague. From a Leicestershire, UK, collection. Accompanied by an original identification card.

Eucrites are achondritic stony meteorites thought to have originated from the surface of the giant asteroid (or minor planet) 4 Vesta. Vesta is the second largest body in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of 525 kilometres. Like Earth, it has the differentiated layers of crust, mantle, and core common to rocky planets: this may mean that 4 Vesta is the remnant of a larger destroyed planet.

From the lower jaw, displaying two teeth from Prognathodon sp.; repaired. 89 grams, 87 mm



From the phosphate mine region, Khouribga, Morocco, North Africa. Acquired 1950s-1960s. From an old Bristol, UK, palaeontological collection.

The Mosasaur is an extinct, large marine reptile dinosaur with a snake-like body, long snout and paddle-like limbs. Found worldwide, they competed with other well-known sea predators of the Late Cretaceous, such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, for food, existing primarily on a diet of ammonoids, cuttlefish and fish.