Mining history

A local gem and mineral dealer has acquired a major de-accessioned museum collection.

In October, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences sold a major part of its mineral collection to Kristalle, which was founded in 1971 by Wayne and Dona Leicht.

“It kinda shook the mineral community,” Wayne Leicht said wryly.

“This collection had been abandoned for about 60 years,” he said. “The Philadelphia museum used to be more earth science, but has since switched to life science. The collection’s just been sitting there, and we have been following it for the better part of my career.”

Kristalle acquired more than 19,000 specimens, Leicht said. “It was over 15 tons of minerals and gems,” he added.

Although most of them are in storage in another state, Kristalle sent many of the finest gems to be certified at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad.

The cash-starved museum plans to use the funds gained in the sale to operate its library.

“They needed the money, and here’s an opportunity for them to gain several million dollars for something they don’t even use,” Leicht said.

Another part of the collection that was donated 123 years ago had a stipulation that it could never be sold.

The museum is required to go through an Orphan’s Court judge to approve the transaction of these 7,500 specimens, Leicht said.

Part of the agreement was that Kristalle would research the collection and make a good faith effort to offer certain portions of it to museums in New York and other locations from where the minerals originated.

Today, museums often turn down large collections unless they come with an endowment that will ensure proper care and curation, Leicht said.

“We told them that we’ll make every effort to get this back on public display,” he said.

Since their humble beginnings in a Forest Ave. storefront, the Leichts have gone on to work with the Smithsonian and other major museums around the country.

“We’re basically known as show dealers now,” Leicht said. “90% of our business is devoted to outside buyers.”

Despite this fact, he still prefers to conduct business in person, so they haven’t gotten too heavily involved in the Internet.

“It’s like ordering a mail-order bride,” he said. “It wouldn’t satisfy me. I hate the Internet.”

With more than 3,500 distinct species of mineral in existence — 1,000 of which are commonly traded — Leicht has his work cut out for him.

The minerals are further classified by region. For example, calcite alone has over 1,000 different possible localities, or areas from which the mineral was mined.

Some are worth more than others; English calcite is considered the best, he said, whereas California gold is most valued.

With partners and associates around the world, Leicht is able to store his collection and show supplies in places like Tokyo, Massachusetts, and Europe.

The couple spent 23 years in a shopping center on Forest, before buying and renovating a historic cottage on North Coast Highway, using funds gained from the sale of a remarkable diamond necklace.

“We’ve been here ever since,” Leicht said.

From their unassuming shop, the couple sells a variety of fossils, seashells and minerals. A tent outside houses bargain finds and coral branches.

The couple doesn’t typically deal in what Wayne Leicht calls “gee-golly-wow” rocks that are used more as decorative showpieces; he said they try to focus on rare or exceptional mineral samples.

A picture on the wall shows Dona in a Tanzania mine, searching for -- what else? -- tanzanite.

The company also operates mines in Brazil and Thailand; Dona often travels to them herself, she said.

Wayne grew up in Bell Gardens, and described his family as being “dirt poor.”

From there, they moved to Riverside for a few years, where he was unofficially taken under the tutelage of a woman at a nearby nature center, who encouraged him to hunt for minerals.

“I used to hike in Jurupa with my dog,” Leicht recalled. He found pegmatite formations there, and collected garnets and other minerals for trade.

He then worked in the aeronautical industry, but went into real estate on the side.

The mineral business began when Dona was bored, Wayne said. “She didn’t have anything to do, and wanted to do something,” he said.

In time, the company took over three spaces in the shopping center before its move to Coast Highway.

They went to their first show in Bisbee, and from then on to Detroit and then around the country and world; today, the company is represented at seven major shows worldwide.

Wayne Leicht’s other passion is books; he has an antiquarian book collection that tops 6,000 volumes, the oldest of which go back to the 1500s.

History is an important factor in Leicht’s work. “A mineral can be not very attractive, but I find it fascinating because it passed through so many famous hands,” he said.