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You may recognize this piece as HEM-1 from the
Mineral Gallery hematite specimen listing. Steve and Doris gave this piece to me in gratitude
for services rendered in the formation of this website. It is by far the most unusual hematite
piece that I have ever seen, and I personally think that it is worth much more than the $15 that
was its original price. Note the gradual indentations that denote a "hopper effect" on its
outer surfaces in the first image. They are difficult to see in the second image, but these
hopper effects are reversed on the inner surfaces! This is one of my five favorite pieces in my
collection.
I just bought this neat little item at the 1998
Tucson shows. It consists of a blank for a knife blade that is made out of a cut slab of an iron
"siderite" meteorite, likely from the huge fall in Hoba, Namibia. The top, or blunt edge of the
knife blade has been left rough, showing the original surface of the meteorite, and the rest of
the material has been etched in a dilute nitric acid to reveal the complex, geometric patterns
that scientists call "Widmanstatten figures". I have yet to have it ground to a sharp edge and
have holes drilled into the tang so that I can make a real knife out of it. It will only be
decorative, however, as raw meteorite is far too soft to make a useful blade.
I bought this crystalline Lazurite "Lapis" piece
from a dealer at the Tucson shows of 1996 who had scores of them. Since then, this dealer has
not had any more, and I have seen only a few for sale. This particular piece appears to have an
elongated dodecahedral form that is nearly octahedral in appearance. It does not exceed 1" (2.5
cm) along its longest axis, but is in excellent condition and has a good, deep blue color. I am
glad that I got one of these while they were plentiful and inexpensive.
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