Minerals.net

Earlier this year, I visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York to do a museum report on their mineral and gemstone exhibit. This museum is one of the top natural history museums in the world, and contains a very significant mineral and gemstone collection. I grew up fairly close to the museum, and, together with my father, had visited it many times in my youth. Most of the exhibits, including the dinosaur fossils and replicas which this museum is so famous for, have entirely changed since my childhood days, but the mineral and gemstone hall has remained essentially the same.

The museum collection contains many specimens that are the known to be the best of their type. It also contains many iconic minerals and gemstones, such as the Star of India Sapphire, the Newmont Azurite, the Giant Legrandite, the Bisbee Azurite/Malachite boulder, the Patricia Emerald, and the Subway Garnet.

The vast size of the room of the collection is incredible, and there are many different case types and sub-sections, from chemical groups, crystal types, local mineral localities, and the gemstones. All the specimens are mounted well with informative labels and proper detail.

Despite this, the mineral and gemstone halls looks like they are still stuck in the 1970's, with outdated designs, dim lighting, and brownish-gray carpeting everywhere reminiscent of that era. It is surprising that this museum, containing one of the most notable mineral collections in the world, is so dated.

However, the museum has announced plans to completely revamp the mineral and gemstone hall with a brand new and modern look and feel. The current mineral and gemstone hall has just been closed this past week, on October 26. It will be reopened as an entirely new exhibit in 2019 as the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals. This opening event will be in conjunction with the museum celebrating its 150th anniversary.

I hope to write a new report when the new hall opens up in 2020. In the meantime, enjoy these glimpses from my report from the old exhibit, with highlights of some of its finest minerals and collection cases. The museum report will be divided into the following separate posts:

• Part 1 - Introduction
• Part 2 - Exhibit Cases
• Part 3 - Individual Minerals Part 1
• Part 4 - Individual Minerals Part 2
• Part 5 - Gem Hall
• Part 6 - New Jersey Traprock Minerals
• Part 7 - Franklin NJ Minerals

This post features some of the display cases within the Museum of Natural History mineral exhibit hall. The museum has a large selection of different displays, which have various themes. This post features our selection of some of these display cases.

The American Museum of Natural History is known for many of its iconic minerals in its collection. I captured in photographs some important specimens of the collection in these next two posts, which feature individual minerals on display. I chose some of the museum's famous mineral specimens, as well as those that are highly photogenic or historically significant. 

Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good photograph of the Newmont Azurite. This specimen, a giant Azurite from Bisbee, Arizona, is among the most famous minerals of the collection (and the world). While exceptionally aesthetic, it is very hard to capture on camera from within its display case. Another famous mineral I did not see is the Subway Garnet, a very large, well-formed Almandine Garnet found in 1885 in Midtown Manhattan during a sewer excavation. This mineral is not on display but in the museum's repository, and I was therefore unable to see it. However, I was happy to hear that it will be showcased on display when the museum completes its current renovation, scheduled for 2020.

Despite missing some key mineral specimens, I was able to capture many other important specimens, and feature them in this and the following post.

This post is a continuation of the previous one, showcasing some of the outstanding minerals in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The museum contains thousands of exceptional minerals on display, and it was difficult to choose which ones should be added to these posts, as I took many good photos of many good minerals. I'll save more for my next visit when the museum reopens the mineral exhibit in 2020. In the meantime, enjoy these current photos for now.

The Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems in the American Museum of Natural History is a room within the museum mineral hall filled with both natural and cut gemstones. There are many famous gemstones in the collection. The Star of India, one of the centerpieces of the hall, is a 563 carat Star Sapphire, one of the largest such gems in the world. The DeLong Star Ruby is a 100 carat Star Ruby with bright color and strong asterism. The Patricia Emerald is a very large iconic Colombian Emerald crystal at 632 carats. These highlights are but a fraction of the gemstones in the vast collection, with many additional outstanding pieces on display.