 A collection of around 2 @,@ 400 specimens ( including some fluorescent minerals ) was donated to the museum in October 1940 by George Rowe , a mine captain with the New Jersey Zinc Company . The collection is rich in rare minerals , many of which found during twentieth @-@ century zinc mining operations in Franklin , New Jersey . This museum 's holdings were augmented with the donation of 6 @,@ 000 fluorescent mineral specimens collected by Anne and Milton Hershhorn . This exhibit opened to the public in October 2002 . 
