When we made our visit to the Smithsonian gem and mineral hall, we took hundreds of photos. After going through all of them, there are over 60 we felt worthwhile to post. Instead of making one long post with all of them, we divided then into several posts of related items. We had to think of a common grouping method, so we chose to separate the posts by mineral type classification. This post shows some of the oxides, sulfides, and halides in the Smithsonian collection.
Click the pictures below for a larger version pop-up.
Cubic
Halite with
Calcite from Eisleben, Thuringen, Germany
Magnetite Octahedrons in Matrix from Binnantal, Valais, Switzerland
Green
Fluorite Crystal and Cut Gems from Westmoreland, New Hampshire
Cumengite Crystal from the Santa Rosalia Mine, Boleo, Mexico
Etched Purple
Fluorite Cubes from the Spar Mountain Mine, Cave in Rock, Illinois
Cuprite with
Malachite Coating from the Onganja Mine, Seeis, Namibia
Quartz with
Rutile Inclusions from Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Skull-Shaped
Marcasite from Montreal, Wisconsin
Manganese Oxide
Dendritic Crystal Growths in Matrix from Solnhofen, Bayern, Germany
Complex
Pyrite Crystal in Calcite from Franklin, New Jersey
Zincite Crystals and Cut Gems from Franklin, New Jersey
Molybdenite Crystal in Matrix from Chelan, Washington
