Items from Bostwick collection sold

A recent sale and auction of fluorescent and aesthetic daylight mineral specimens from Franklin and Sterling Hill presented collectors with a unique opportunity to acquire specimens once owned by Richard Bostwick, a well-known and highly respected member of the mineral community.

The minerals, officially part of the Richard C. Bostwick and Tema Hecht Collection, were offered April 20 in the Franklin Mineral Museum’s Kraissl Hall in an event run by and for the museum, which recently acquired a substantial portion of the collection.

For Bostwick, parting with part of his large collection brought mixed emotions.

“The feelings ranged from a portion of my collection is off my hands to selling (my) own body parts; it’s a mixed bag,” said Bostwick, whose wife, Tema Hecht, has supported his collection in later life.

“They are not all the same because you have emotional attachments to some, and you have others just because you need them to complete a suite or something. My specialty was always ones that would glow under ultraviolet light.”

Bostwick has had a long and storied history in the business, having been a Sterling Hill miner, sales assistant to Tom Warren at Ultraviolet Products, and former president of the Franklin-Ogdensburg Mineralogical Society and Northeast chapter representative of the Fluorescent Mineral Society, among other roles.

“When you are in the mines, you can be anywhere from 10 feet underground to half a mile underground and not really know the difference,” he said. “It is certainly a unique experience.”

His enthusiasm and contributions to the minerals of Franklin and Sterling Hill have earned him the honor of having a mineral named after him.

“Bostwickite is one of the many obscure minerals found in limited quantities and only at Sterling Hill,” said Bostwick, who lives in New York City with his wife.

“I have specialized in the minerals of Franklin and Sterling Hill. and the Franklin and Sterling Hill zinc, iron and manganese deposits are unlike any other on earth. Franklinite, named after Franklin, happens to be the state mineral and is found in small quantities around the world by accident. There are hundreds of metric tons of it here.”

More than 250 fluorescent and daylight pieces from the Bostwick-Hecht collection were put on sale, and 39 fluorescent pieces were held for voice auction with reserve. The museum did not say how much money was raised.