2004 West Coast Show
Costa Mesa, California

The West Coast Show is one of the larger shows on the west coast promoted by Marty Zinn.  It is the first big show after Tucson in the United States.  There are close to 100 dealers here at the Holiday Inn in Costa Mesa - a city in Orange County which is situated on the coastal area southern California.



Composite
 of the Holiday Inn in Costa Mesa where the show is being held.


   
Two shots in the ball room here at the Holiday Inn.  I saw Kristalle, Seibel Minerals,
Doug and Terry Wallace, Benny Finn, Dave Bunk and Mineral of the Month set up in here
.



Here's a picture of Show organizer Marty Zinn (smiling) in the hotel lobby.


There is not a tremendous number of anything remarkably new here but one thing that is are the fabulous rutile and hematite specimens from Novo Horizonte, Bahia, Brazil that were found this past March.  They were available from Frank Melanson and Luiz Menezes.  These are the best anyone has seen since the first find in the early 1980's. The best specimens have bright lustrous hematite crystals with radiating silky crystals of rutile emerging from the centers and unlike previous finds the radiating rutile crystals are terminated.  These were first shown at the Rochester Symposium in April so Costa Mesa was the second time these were seen by the public.   Frank showed me the four best specimens including one that will soon be residing at the Houston Museum.   There were about 30 specimens in the miniature range also available which is what I selected specimens from.  The three specimens featured here are available directly from Frank Melanson or Luiz.  I can put you in contact with them if you are interested.  The prices presented here are what they have on the pieces in the hotel room.

 
The specimen is one that will be residing in the Houston Museum soon.  It is held by Frank Melanson in this photo.



These are shots of two of the best available specimens - all very large museum grade specimens.  The one on the left
 is over 20 cm across and is priced at $65.000.  The one on the right is over 30 cm across and is priced at $35,000.


 
The last of the three specimens pictured on the left is also over 30 cm across.  It is available for $75,000.  The photo on the right is of the three in Luiz's display case.


The Costa Mesa show is not a huge event like the Tucson or Denver shows here in the US.  But it is a very good regional show like the East Coast show is.  I found several interesting specimens including fine new gold specimens from Wayne and Dona Leicht, a few red beryl specimens from John Seibel, thumbnail Chilean proustite specimens from Dave Bunk, and much more.   Many of these specimens will be posted over the coming weeks.


Thanks to Marty Zinn for his continued efforts and good work to bring shows like these to folks across the United States.
Now for the 612 mile (1020 km) drive back to Trinity County in northern California...



Past Shows & Reports
The minerals offered on these pages are all sold
1999
Munich Show
2000
Sainte Marie aux-Mines Show
Munich Show
2001
Sainte Marie aux-Mines Show
Munich Show
2002
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie aux-Mines Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2003
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie aux-Mines Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2004
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2005
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2006
Tucson Show
Bologna Show
Sainte Marie aux-Mines Show
East Coast Show
Munich Show
2007
Tucson Show
Dallas Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2008
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show
2009
Tucson Show



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