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The Mineral Collection of Dr. Peter Bancroft
Pete Bancroft has been one of the leaders of the hobby through both his field collecting and show exhibitions, and perhaps even more through his publishing of several important books: Gem and Crystal Treasures, which showecased the 100 best mineral localities to date, accompanied by specimens and history; and The World's Finest Minerals, showcasing stellar specimens in museums and private collections at the time. (Both books are now sadly out of print and if anybody has copies, in particular of G&CT, I am a buyer - let me know!). From the 1950’s onward, he built one of the world’s finest mineralogical collections, the top portion of which sold to Dave Wilber for the most significant sum ever paid at the time for a mineral collection in modern times. He kept part of that collection, and then added more pieces over the next several decades as well, some of which you see below. For me, his Gem & Crystal Treasures will always be the most important book in the hobby in terms of influencing me as a collector (which I was for a LONG time before becoming a fulltime dealer). When I first read it in the mid-1980s, it knocked me over the head and taught me the difference between a "pretty good rock" and a "fine mineral specimen" with history, locality and ownership pedigree, and true aesthetic value. I am happy to have been able to purchase, through the transportation aid of Ed Swoboda, a portion of Pete's collection. It is true that he sold much of it in the 1970s, but he kept back a lot of specimens all these years, some of which are presented here and in fact come right out of his home office.
PB1 - Morganite with Tourmaline - $2450 Pederneira Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil small cabinet, 8.9 x 6.2 x 3.5 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
This translucent to transparent crystal of morganite is from a final held-back portion of the collection of Peter Bancroft, world renowned mineralogical author. This morganite is rich pink, very lustrous and is highlighted by two deep green, elbaite crystals, to 2.0 cm in length, the terminations of which are exposed, while the bottom portions are impaled into the morganite. In addition, there is a band of drusy, tan lepidolite crystals that wreathe the right side of the morganite. The back side has been contacted and there are a few minor dings on the periphera but these do not affect the quality of this specimen. The display face shows complete, as you can see; and is quite impressive as this is almost a cabinet specimen. The color, in person, is a very dramatic, showy, classic morganite-pink. His is only the second such morganite I have ever seen for sale with tourmalines impaled within, from this part of Brazil. Usually they form in quite distinct sections of a mine, and the combos that are famous are from the Urucum mine and quite different in aspect from this specimen. RARE!
PB3 - Pyrite - $450 Navajun, Logrono, Spain small cabinet, 6.2 x 5.5 x 3.9 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
A mirror bright, lustrous, brassy yellow cube of pyrite, to 4.0 cm across acts as a host for a smaller crystal of the same species which is obliquely, and aesthetically, perched on the larger crystal. Common material, but still and all one of the most amazing minerals in the world for its ability to impress layment with the stark symmetry (that so few outsiders believe us about, when we say it is natural!). A common mineral and locality, but a very nice example, here.
PB4 - Calcite with Pyrite - $1250 SOLD Brushy Creek Mine, Reynolds County, Missouri cabinet, 12 x 7.7 x 6.5 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
I must say that this is one of the most aesthetic, scalenohedral calcite specimens I have seen from Brushy Creek. A group of intergrown, lustrous, translucent, dark gray, calcite crystals, to 5.0 cm in length, have overgrowths of finely crystallized, IRIDESCENT AND MULTICOLORED, pyrite. On the largest calcite crystal with pyriteovergrowth, a later generation of calcite crystals, in a "rabbit ear" pattern is perched aesthetically. In addition, the largest calcite crystal exhibits a wonderful phantom. This specimen highlights the exquisite taste of Peter Bancroft. This is form older finds. The mine was reopened for specimens in the late 1980s. Until that time, a piece such as this would have been even more rare than now. It is still VERY good, mind you! But i can see this costing even more money at the time.
PB5 - Stibnite (with minor Barite) - $1500 SOLD Baia Sprie, Maramures, Romania small cabinet, 8.5 x 6.1 x 4.2 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
This old time specimen is uniquely different from most Romanian stibnites because the crystals exhibit much broader spear-shaped form, the classic style you see in old books but so seldom in specimens from the location taken out in the later half of the 1900s. Crystals reach 4 cm in length and nearly all are pristine, with these perfect, textbook terminations. Also, there are a few gemmy, colorless barite crystals, to .7 cm across perched on the stibnite crystals (Very nice and unusual!). Superb small cab specimen of this classic old material, and very hard to get today!
PB6 - Calcite with iridescent Pyrite - $350 SOLD Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico cabinet, 10.7 x 7.5 x 3.9 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
Iridescent, striated, modified cubes of pyrite, to .8 cm across, are nestled down among flower-like, clusters of snow white, translucent, calcite. The calcite clusters average 1 cm across. BEAUTIFUL and stark combination! This is old material, in a style not found in modern mining here.
PB7 - Spodumene var. triphane - $2500 SOLD Resplendor, Minas Gerais, Brazil cabinet, 15.7 x 4.1 x 1.9 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
This facetable, lustrous, light yellow, gem crystal, displays beautiful etch pits over a large portion of the crystal that create innumerable reflections of light. It is large, but nearly entirely gem quality! This is just a lovely spodumene gem crystal which can be viewed in any direction. It weighs in at 261 gram. Such a finely-terminated spod from Brazil is unusual to get ahold of, and especially with a sharp termination. Most of them tend to form in pockets that have long since been hit by solutions that etch and dissolve the crystals, and the result is very few large spodumenes from Brazil have the sharp form we normally associate now with Afghani pieces. In person this is a daiquiri-green color like pastel ice cream, and is MUCH MORE LUSTROUS and GLASSY IN PERSON.
PB10 - Amazonite with Smoky Quartz - $1500 SOLD Florissant Area, Teller Co., Colorado small cabinet, 7.8 x 7.4 x 5.3 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
A cluster of lustrous smoky quartz crystals, to 5.0 cm in length, have emerged from a matrix of microcline var. amazonite crystals. They are of high quality, and translucent to transparent! These highly lustrous amazonite crystals are a pastel, blue-green color, and can measure over 2 cm in length. The color and texture contrast along with the aesthetic quality of large smokys and smaller amazonites all add up to make this a fine Colorado specimen clearly of old vintage and different from what is found today. It is possible that one or more amazonite crystals may even be twinned, though I am not quite sure here. There is an insignificant wilber at the termination on the back side of the largest smoky, but otherwise they are complete all around, a miracle for such a large amazonite plate - they are often loaded with repairs, at least from the modern finds.
PB11 - Calcite - $1750 SOLD Malmberget, Lappland, Sweden small cabinet, 7.7 x 4.9 x 5.4 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
This locality produced, for a short time, some of the most beautiful, yet, rarely seen calcite styles in the world. They were traded around initially only in very small circles, and priced at their weight in platinum. Still are, for that matter. I have not seen a good one for sale since the 1990s, and I have never seen such a nice matrix one for sale, only singles. The specimens with larger crystals gets to be almost orange, and exhibit great translucence and luster. There is almost a silky look to them, that adds a glowing effect to the color. However, it is the incredible crystal morphology that put specimens like this one in the front ranks of calcite specimens. The largest modified scalenohedron measures 3 cm in length. Prisitne save for a few very minor dings on lesser crystals. This is a rare matrix piece, with great color, and I cannot say that I could ever find another so nice for the calcite collectors out there
PB12 - Amethyst - $1950 Las Vigas, Vera Cruz, Mexico small cabinet, 9.9 x 7.2 x 4.3 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
Amethyst crystals from this area of Mexico have long been considered among the world’s finest for the species. This aesthetic group on a sliver of matrix, features several transparent, lustrous, lilac colored crystals which reach 5.5 cm in length. Unique features on the largest, most deeply colored crystals, are indentations on the prism faces which could represent incipient sceptered growth. A beautiful and elegant specimen, that is much better in person!
PB13 - Aquamarine - $950 Teofilo Otoni, Minas Gerais, Brazil small cabinet, 8.1 x 1.4 x 1.1 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
This is a deep blue, slightly rounded and etched, transparent, gem crystal of aqua which has one rough termination and what may be a healed termination on the other end. It weighs 26 grams. Rare in such color, from Brazil!
PB14 - Emerald - $2500 SOLD Muzo Mine, Boyaca Dept., Columbia miniature, 5.4 x 5.2 x 5.1 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
Without question the world’s finest emeralds are from Muzo, Coscuez, and Chivor in Colombia. This emerald specimen features a richly saturated, deep emerald green, lustrous and gemmy, emerald crystal which measures 2.0 cm in length. If this crystal had been any gemmier, it would have been relegated to cutting material. Thankfully, it is gemmy enough that we like it as a specimen but it survived the cutters! It is funny that if i were to buy a contemporary example of this material, i'd have to pay more than what i am charging for this antique one which came ot me as part of an old collection?!
PB15 - Brazilianite with Muscovite - $7500 SOLD Corrego Frio, Linopolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil small cabinet, 6.2 x 4.9 x 4.4 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
FROM THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL found in the 1940s, this is a SUPER specimen with the bet color, best glassy lustre, very much transparency and gemminess, and unique aesthetics because of its association with muscovite! This matrix brazilianite is one of the most magnificent examples of its species I have sene for sael recently, especially for the size and pricepoint. It is complete all around, and displays wonderfully as you can see, contacted only on the bottom. The rich, greenish-yellow color, great luster and transparency, and crystal form, are all at the top of the spectrum for this species. Its beauty is completed by a row of muscovite crystals at the edge, along with minor albite. The muscovite averages 1.5 cm and the brazilianite is almost 5.0 cm across. This specimen is obviously from the original find in the 1940’s.
PB16 - Tourmaline on Feldspar - $10000 SOLD Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande, San Diego County, California small cabinet, 9.5 x 7.1 x 4.8 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
With the mine now closed, fine elbaite crystals, whether or not on matrix, are going to get scarce and even more expensive than they are today. Already, I haven't seen many good matrix specimens on the market and this one remarkably has NO repairs at all! Nearly all large Himalaya tourmies do have some repairs, as the mine is quite tectonically disrupted. This 9 cm long, elbaite var. rubellite crystal is, doubly terminated, lustrous, translucent and exhibits that wonderful trait of being bent and rehealed as it grew in the pocket, which creates an elegant look that is nearly unique to the Himalaya. It also is perched on a buff colored, feldspar crystal which makes for a great contrasting accent. Rarer still, it appears to be pristine. This is just a miracle piece from the mine, and I consider it among the best pieces here. Himalaya tourmalines , to me, having lived in San Diego and seen many old collections, are a treasure - people just don't know how few really top specimens were found, even over 100 years of mining.
PB17 - Cinnabar on Quartz, Dolomite and Calcite - $750 Tongren, Guizhou Province, China small cabinet, 5.4 x 3.9 x 2.3 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
A single, twinned, gemmy, lustrous, bright red, crystal of cinnabar, measuring 1.8 cm in length, is perched on gem clear, colorless, quartz crystals to .3 cm in length and white dolomite rhombs to .5 cm across. Oddly, the whole underside of the specimen is covered in translucent, lustrous, tan crystals of calcite to .7 cm across. My gut feeling is that this piece dates back at least to the very early 1980s and was probably one of the very first cinnabars to come out in a trickle that shocked the mineral world. I could see htis being a $10k rock at the time....they were that astonishing! Of cours,e more were mined afterwards and came out in the mid 90s. But now, these large cyclic twins are very rare, and good combo specimens like this more so. They certianly dont "make em like they used to" !
PB18 - Amethyst with Pyrite - $250 SOLD Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico small cabinet, 6.8 x 6.5 x 2.9 cm ex. Peter Bancroft
This amethyst rosette is a uniform, pastel lilac color, with good translucence and luster. The largest crystal is 2.0 cm in length. Enhancing this piece is a dusting of iridescent, pyrite crystals which average .1 cm across. The color of this amethyst is very close to the color of amethyst and pyrargyrite which appeared in Peter Bancroft’s first book and which proudly resides in the British Museum of Natural History, from Guanajuato.
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