In an otherwise unassuming two-story building, one of the first erected at UC Santa Barbara in the late 1950s, sits treasures untold: an assemblage of minerals and gem crystals — many quite rare — known as the Bancroft Collection.

The little-known cache of 60 crystals is displayed in an alarmed Lexan case inside Webb Hall, home to UCSB’s Department of Earth Science.

“The Bancrofts wanted the collection to be a focal point for everyone who walks through the foyer, and the beautifully lit case draws people to it,” said mineralogist William Wise, an earth science professor emeritus at UCSB. “A collection like this is exciting because of the wide variety of colors, shapes and examples of some of the world’s more interesting minerals and gem crystals.”

The collection was donated to UCSB by Edward R. Bancroft, a teacher and gem cutter whose father, Peter, was a UCSB alumnus. Peter and his wife, Virginia, designed the display case and had it built to their specifications on campus.