The theme this year for the show was quartz.  The bulk of the displays were of quartz and its various forms and colors. Quartz is the most abundant mineral on the planet and has few deviations from its typical habit and yet, it is the most popularly collected mineral in the world.  Perhaps it was my bias towards other minerals of more rare chemistry that clouded my vision but overall the displays were not that appealing to me.  Still, there were some striking specimens presented to be sure.

One of the other tasks I have taken on in the past couple years is to conduct an online auction for the periodical Rocks & Minerals to help offset the high costs of color printing.  My last task before heading west was to make a selection of specimens for this auction which will start September 24th. 
 
 

Final thoughts on the show: I think the 2005 Denver Show was an average show overall.  The bulk of significant offers from dealers here were those from recently released collections.   There was a great new find of amazonite and smoky quartz that Joe Doris of Glacier Peak brought to the show but they were scooped up before I got to Denver unfortunately.  The new mineral menezesite was perhaps the most significant new find from my perspective.  Luiz brought all the specimens he had that were available for sale and none went back with him to Brazil.   China continues to churn out new things of interest including new silver wires (I did not obtain any of these, and prices for these were all over the place).  Another item from China that was new were specimens of prehnite with babbingtonite.  Initially, Chinese dealers were calling these prehnite with epidote and prehnite with clinozoisite.  They finally got it right after several mineralogists pointed out what they had.  They were average in appearance and I did not feel compelled to get any as deposits of this nature are usually quite extensive. 

This, however, highlights another example of a continuing problem at shows.  A lot of these were sold to collectors who think that they have prehnite with something other than what it really is. MANY dealers (at the hotel show predominantly) are still placing minerals out on their displays with no labeling or pricing information at all.  It has to be frustrating for collectors to wander into these rooms and not know what they are looking at mineral or price wise.

Several conversations with prominent collectors and dealers had a resounding and echoing theme:  Prices are out of control.  I can not help but imagine that most new entrants into the mineral collecting hobby are blown away at what is being asked for mineral specimens.  The only haven seems to be in rare minerals.   There is a strong possibility that, like every other collectable in the world, there will be a price correction along the way but when and how much of a move will take place is hard to say.  There is a piece of advice I freely share with all collectors - DO NOT buy minerals with an investment purpose in mind.  Purchase minerals because you want to build a collection for an aesthetic, academic or some other focused reason or reasons.  And buy the best specimen you can afford.  I would question any dealer suggesting that someone buy a mineral because it will be a good investment.  This is not to say that minerals do not have a substantial or high intrinsic value.  It takes a lot of time and money to make minerals available to collectors. There are also many rare or few of a kind minerals that have and always will command steep prices.  It is, however, my personal belief that it is the job of mineral dealers to offer specimens as cheaply as they possibly can.

I may skip Denver in 2006 as many dealers at the East Coast Show are at the Denver Show and the rocks they bring to the Denver Show are the ones that were passed up by collectors at the East Coast Show.  There are, of course, a lot of dealers who do not set up at the East Coast Show that are in Denver and vice versa.  We'll see of course. A lot can happen in a year's time.

One last word of thanks goes out to the organizers and volunteers who put these shows together.  Martin Zinn Expositions and the Denver Gem and Mineral Society in particular. There is one "crisis" after another to deal with and solve at shows like this and these people get it done on time every time.  Also a word of thanks to the scores of dealers who are willing to lift and carry rocks all over the planet so that collectors and dealers as myself can pick and choose specimens for our various purposes.  My business would suffer without these events.

Ok, that is my commentary for this show.  These views presented here are strictly mine and based on my observations and conversations with many collectors and other dealers. 

The next large show for me will be Munich in about six weeks! I will also be at the MSSC show in Long Beach, California in about three weeks.

Cheers,

2010
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2011
Tucson Show
San Francisco Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show
Munich Show

2012
Tucson Show
West Coast Show
East Coast Show
Denver Show 
Munich Show

2013
Tucson Show
Sainte Marie Show
Crystal Days (Poland)
Munich Show