Mineral Collection
Minerals
The Mineral Collection consists of approximately 100,000 specimens and is significant by virtue of its size, broad representation of species and occurrences, the quality of the exhibit specimens, and the large number of type, described, and illustrated specimens.
With the exception of the micromounts, the collection is catalogued as a single entity but is physically organized into several sub collections. Some highlights of the sub collections are described in more detail below.
Featured Mineral Collections
Gold
The gold collection at the MGMH is remarkable for its size and breadth of representation, as well as the quality of the top specimens. The collection is most famously known for its iconic wire of gold from the Ground Hog mine in Eagle County, Colorado that has been dubbed the “Gold Horn” and still ranks as one of the largest gold wires ever found.
Tsumeb
The mines from Tsumeb, Namibia are famous for multiple reasons. Most mines are typically known for one or two successfully extracted ores and are named as such, but for Tsumeb, one would be compelled to name it a “Cadmium, Copper, Germanium, Lead, Silver and Zinc Mine.” This certainly hints at the complexity of the mineralization of the mines, and at present over 360 different minerals have been confirmed, 76 of which are type mineral species.
Type Minerals
The MGMH has an exceptionally large holding of type mineral species. A holotype species is the actual specimen for which the first work was done to officially define that species and serves as the physical proof to which all further research about a particular species can be compared.
Northeastern United States
The MGMH largest sub collection is definitely the northeastern regional collection of minerals which numbers well over 20,000 specimens. It features both exceptional quality and paragenetic reference examples from a myriad of quarries from the states of New York, New Jersey, and all the New England states.
Micromounts
Consist of small mineral specimens mounted in one-inch boxes for viewing through a microscope. The historical micromount collection (3,200 mounts) is part of Albert F. Holden's personal collection left to the university in 1912. During the 1990s a contemporary micromount collection of 6,600 mounts was built by Stephen and Janet Cares. It incorporates the collections of Gilbert George and Leland Wyman as well as many specimens supplied by the Cares. The micromount collections are rich in rare species and significantly supplement the collection of hand specimens.
Unique Collectors
When the MGMH receives a collection of exceptional size and significance, the decision is made to keep such a collection separate from the main systematic collection. Historically, it has been rare to get large collections of such significance that it was deemed important to keep uniquely intact.
