Rock Hounding at the Denver Mineral Show

While the Denver Mineral Show is primarily at the Denver Merchandise Mart there are other venues running at nearly the same time. There is the Denver Coliseum as well as a couple other dealers set up at local hotels and other spots. My wife and I decided to make a day of it and drove to Denver to see the show. First I visited one of my supply guys who has storage flats and display boxes for minerals, he also sells some crystals and minerals. Fred is a bit off the beaten path and last time I was there he had received a number of Herkimer diamonds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herkimer_diamond but had not priced them. He had shown me a piece of opalized petrified wood that he liked last time I visited--something I have in abundance back home--so I decided next time I went to Denver I could trade some of my petrified wood for some boxes.  The timing was finally right and I ended up getting hundreds of boxes in trade and a discount on one of his larger hoppered Herkimer diamonds for a piece of polished petrified wood and some cash. I was happy with my boxes and Herkimer and he was delighted with his petrified wood.

Hoppered Herkimer

My next stop was a hotel where one of the actors in the Prospector’s Show was selling his minerals. I have a pretty good relation with some of these guys and showed them some of the minerals I found this past year. To my surprise they wanted to purchase some of my Carlsbad twin microclines mentioned in post 8/30/2016. Evidently Carlsbad twins are sought after and hard for them to keep in stock. So I had a productive meeting and then finally arrived at the Denver Merchandise Mart.

The Denver Show is a bit overwhelming with over 300+ dealers. Prior to getting started I ran into one of our club members who was helping host the show and she gave me a quick run-down of the event. I told my wife I would be good for 2 hours and that would probably be it for me. She was fine with that and made her way to the wholesale jewelry section. I sought out a dealer who makes quartz crystal twins. Dr Klipov makes crystals primarily for optical and electronic applications but also dabbles in twinned crystals that collectors seek (perhaps these are lunchbox specials from the lab). Dr Klipov said that it takes over 9 months to create these crystals in the lab and no discounts would be made for these specimens (ok then). The quality and twinning of these crystals were irresistible to me so I plunked down $50 and made a purchase. I’m not a big fan of lab created crystals but I think one or two is okay in my collection. 

 While browsing I met a fellow rock-hound from Lake George, CO who to my surprise has a claim next to mine. He was selling off some of his collection and was in good spirits as sales were brisk. As I strolled through vendors booths I kept my eye out for Herkimer diamonds to see how good a deal I got on my purchase and all the Herkimers I saw were three times more expensive and of poorer quality than the one I purchased. My deal for boxes and a Herkimer just keeps getting better

My wife loaded up on jewelry and seemed happy with her purchases and I forged a couple new friendships and felt I made a couple of good deals. Back to rock hounding the Rockies next week!