Minerals-Online Japanese Oldies: 06 Feb - 13 Feb 2017

After nearly five years, it’s now time for a new auction with japanese specimen only. Japan offers a great variety of minerals, from volcanic origin, pegmatites, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, various orebodies, etc. However, specimens from Japan are scarce on the shows, and historic specimen with old labels are nearly impossible to find present-day. The reason is that - in opposite to Europe – only a handful of people existed which were interested in minerals, and until the end of World War II, the country was more or less closed to foreigners. Remarkably, the Krantz dealership, founded in 1830, had traditional connections to japanese collectors and scientists in those early times. The old provinces mentioned on most of the labels were replaced by prefectures between 1868 and 1871; although obsolete, they are widely used until now. Unfortunately, no information is available about the japanese collector J. Sasamoto, but in the context the labels can be dated to late 19th or early 20th century.

This is your opportunity to get a historic japanese classic – please enjoy and don’t hesitate to ask if there are any questions.

Cheers,

Marcus