Niobium element type specimen

'Up until 1801, a lot of our mineral collection was Sir Hans Sloane's curious stuff. But from this point on, researchers started using and looking at the collection from a scientific perspective. It was the beginning of us becoming a mineralogical research institute, rather than just being custodians of pretty things.'
Mike Rumsey, mineralogist

This piece of columbite belonged to Sir Hans Sloane, whose enormous collection was gifted to the British Museum when he died in 1753. His collection, which included this mineral, eventually formed much of the original material in the Natural History Museum.

The mineral sat in the British Museum's collection for years, described only as 'a very heavy black stone... with golden streaks'. Nearly 50 years later, British Museum geochemist Charles Hatchett came across the columbite and analysed its composition. He found that it contained an element previously unknown to science. He named the element columbium (Cb), but it was later renamed to niobium (Nb).

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