Bryan Davis Minerals

Great show as usual.  If nothing else, this show is a great opportunity to run into other mineral collectors you know, BS about whats going on, where they are collecting, and what's being found, etc.  I hardly get into the inside show, I am always too busy scouring the outside show for minerals, and talking to other collectors.  I probably spend 90% of my time BS'ing outside. I only went on Saturday this year, at the spring show I ended up losing money setting up because I sold less in minerals than I had to pay for entrance and my table fee.  Attendance looked OK, I heard that sales were down quite a bit at this show.

I brought a TON of moderate quality New Jersey specimens with me that came with a collection I bought a while back and sold them by the flat at VERY good prices, and they went pretty quick.  I figured with the economy still in the dumps more people would be shopping for low prices as opposed to high quality, so I tried to accommodate that.  I am just happy I was able to clear up some room in my garage.  Now I have room to spread out and clean and organize more fluorescent specimens to list for sale. 

I continue to sell a lot of minerals off of the website, if anyone is interested in any specimens, I am happy to answer questions or provide any additional information.  Unfortunately, it is time consuming to clean/trim/photograph/measure/weigh specimens.  With my job and my longer than normal commute, it makes it very difficult for me to get as much done as I want to, however, I update as often as makes sense, and will keep everyone informed when I list new minerals on the website.  I will also bring back the "eBay listing" link whenever I list anything on eBay, so that visitors to my website can also see the listings there. 

I am a bit curious what visitors to the site are looking for...  If there is something you like, or don't like, or would like to see more of, just let me know,  I would be happy to oblige.

This was a fantastic trip, as always.  There was a good turnout, about 20 people, and I again forgot my camera.  Everyone seemed to be collecting a lot of good stuff.  I overheard several finds of sphalerite (cleiophane), and fluorite (chlorophane).

I personally was able to collect quite a few pieces of fluorite which is bright red in daylight and fluoresces a fantastic blue/green color.   The fluorite is apparently light sensitive though, and if not stored in the dark can lose its color. 

The specimen below is fluorite mixed with sphalerite and willemite resulting in a fantastic contrast of colors.  There may also be small crystals of apatite, but it is hard to tell.  The specimen is about 8" across

 The specimen below is fluorite with apatite (crystalline) and willemite (~4" across)

I also found a very respectable specimen with a vein through it containing scheelite (yellow) and a splattering of small metallic specs that look just like solder.  The specimen is about 6" across.

I also collected a few more pieces of sphalerite in Quartz which is one of my favorite types of specimens from Taylor Road.  

If you are interested in any specimens of fluorite or sphalerite, I have extras for sale.

Decided I would set up at this show in my continuing effort to reduce my excess mineral stock.  I did not register ahead of time, and all of the "good spots" (read shady spots) were taken and I was ushered to the end of the line to set up.  The show was set up around an oblong grassy area.  It turned out it didn't matter where you were set up, I think almost everyone walked the entire length of the dealer line, since it was not very long.  And I was perfectly content sitting in the sun on such a gorgeous day.  Plus in my opinion the crystals look much more impressive in the sunlight.  I overheard people saying that there were more dealers than usual at this show, and it is usually a very small show.  There were maybe about 20 dealers.  Most were jewelry type dealers.  The weather was great, and the surrounding museum village was nice.  The attendance was not terrible, but sales were very low.  I made 99% of my money on specimens out of the $1 each box, and specimens marked $5 or less.  It was a nice enough show, but not worth my entire day for a few dollars in profit.  I will most likely not set up at the show again, and did not return on Sunday.

I did however sell my first minerals to a healy-feely.  They asked me what the green mineral in my $1 box was.  I told them it was prehnite.  They looked it up in their healing book, and sure enough it was there, and they bought 3.  I think they said it promoted liver function and calmness.  I couldnt help but laugh.  If prehnite promotes liver function, I must have the healthiest liver in the world.  I must have 300 lbs of prehnite in my house and garage.  I wonder what the other minerals in my house heal.  I must be the healthiest person in the world.  No wonder there are so many old mineral collectors around, with all these health promoting crystals around, we should all live forever!

The weather was much better than last year.  The sun was shining, and no sign of clouds.  It would have been a fantastic day for an outdoor show, except it was unseasonably warm.  90+ degrees!  I was completely sunburned by the end of the day.  Sales were very good on Saturday.  People were buying stuff before I had even finished unpacking...  Sunday on the other hand was a complete bust, sales were WAY down from the previous day.  If I remember correctly, this is the same thing that happened last year.  I think I may not set up on Sunday next year.  I always wondered why there were so many fewer dealers on Sundays, I guess that answers my question.  I think I ended up losing money Sunday, because my table and admission fee was more than I made...

We were offering entire flats of fantastic minerals from Prospect Park Quarry for just $15 dollars each.  We went through about 20 of them the first day, and I had to spend Saturday night making up more flats to replenish the supply.  It's not surprising, considering some of the flats had 10 or more minerals in them with one mineral being worth the $15 by itself.  Some really fantastic minerals sold in those flats.  I also had some unbelievable specimens priced to move, but shockingly many of them did not.  Perhaps because of the economy people were looking for more value. 

However, it was really their loss, I had phenomenal specimens listed at half of what I would have paid for them.  Several people recognized the deals and bought many specimens, to which I added a quantity discount.  They REALLY got great deals.  The good news is that I will be adding many of those specimens my minerals for sale gallery so that visitors to the site will have the opportunity to get the same blowout prices.

Huge turnout for this trip!  There was hardly room to work!  A lot of people were finding good material on this dig.  If you are in FOMS or are thinking about joining, this dig happens twice a year and should not be missed.  I pretty much struck out this time, but got enough fantastic pieces on the previous trip that it didn't even bother me.  There was (as always) sphalerite being found, as well as some chlorophane.  I took home a few pieces of sphalerite and quartz specimens where the sphalerite borders the quartz which has some greenish fluorescence, creating a nice color contrast. 

While I am on the subject of color contrast...  My favorite fluorescent specimens are ones with interesting color combinations.  I know there are rare fluorescent minerals which sell for heaps of money, but other than being rare, they don't really do much for me.  My favorite specimens are ones that are aesthetically pleasing.  This goes for my fluorescent mineral collection, as well as my other suites.  My favorite pieces are ones that people who didn't even know mineral collecting was a hobby would look at and be impressed with. 

Small specs of minerals are nice, but you cant beat a big orange fluorescent calcite with a gorgeous fluorescent purple blob of hardystonite right in the middle.  My dream specimen is a piece of hardystonite with just esperite on it, I imagine the contrast of purple and yellow would be a stunning site... I don't know if this specimen exists, but I'd like to hope that I come across it some day and it's in my price range... who knows.  My other dream specimen is a really nice barite and calcite.  This should not be TOO hard to come by, I just haven't found one that I really liked enough to buy for the high price... 

Wollastonite, Wollastonite, and more Wollastonite! 

The first trip: Another mineral collector pointed me to a boulder of wollastonite that he was working on.  We made quick work of bashing it to pieces, and split it up 3 ways.  The wollastonite is not the brightest, however it is nearly solid, not just grains, but nearly solid areas of wollastonite.  We took home pieces almost  a foot wide.  Several of which I will list for sale on the website in due course.

The second trip: I found a boulder with clusters of wollastonite crystals along with fluorescent calcite and a blue/green coating, which combined to create some fantastic color contrast.  I took home a few extra pieces, which I will put up for sale on the website also.  Sterling hill has been doing a lot of moving around in the pits, and it is a great time to go and find some interesting pieces.  They open the pits to collecting on the last Sunday of every month, and they are definitely worth a visit. 

I have much better luck at Sterling Hill than I have ever had at the buckwheat dump.  However, rumor has it that buckwheat has turned over the dump, so who knows.  It might be worth a trip over there also.

Jeff Wilson was kind enough to give me a tour of the quartz locality in Montague, NJ this weekend.  Jeff has been collecting up there for years, and has a website dedicated to the locality as well as his mineral club, which I previously listed on my LINKS page (http://www.freewebs.com/jerseydiamonds/). Its a pleasant walk from Rt 23, and has some of the most beautiful scenery of any site I have collected.  The quartz (quartz is the only mineral that has been collected at this site) is located in veins sandwiched between clays and mud in a limestone intrusion in shale.  Milky quartz seems to be abundant, however, clear quartz and herkimer type crystals (Jeff nicknamed these beauties "Monts" after "Herks" which refers to the double terminated quartz from the Herkimer NY area) can be found also.  The photos show some of my haul from the trip after powerwashing, toothbrushing, and a relaxing bath in super iron out...

The land is owned by the state and collecting status is questionable.  However, Jeff can be contacted through his website for directions or more information regarding the site.  Jeff also has many more fantastic photos of specimens from this area on his website, which is definitely worth a look.

I didn't think to bring my camera to this event, though in hindsight it might have made for a good update.  There were a lot of familiar faces here.  However, after 5 minutes the lecture hall where the mineral sale is held becomes a mad house.  You have to get there early or most of the good stuff is snapped up.  I brought my wife with me, and she didn't believe me about how important it is to get there early.  Literally after about 2 minutes it becomes packed so tight it is impossible to get to any specimens.  Lines form, but they literally don't move.  You have to cut around people and look over peoples shoulders.  I was first in line (I of course was cut as I walked through the door)... but I grabbed everything I bought in the first minute, after that it becomes exceedingly frustrating trying to get anything.  I picked up a prehnite from Riker Hill, a really nice Sweetwater mine calcite, and a few other cheaper pieces. 

Prices I would say are fairly good, not exactly a steal.  I have another calcite from the Viburnum Trend that I will probably sell now, since I have upgraded.  I will post it to this site this week, if anyone is interested.  They have a lot of oddball stuff there; I was looking for mostly New Jersey stuff, but didn't see too many pieces.  It seems like there is something there for everyone though, I didn’t see a lot of people leaving empty handed.  I also visited the geology museum on my way out.  They had some very nice New Jersey pieces, a nice dinosaur track way from New Jersey, and a lot of other interesting stuff.  The mineral identification room had a very long line, and there were plenty of kids wandering around in the museum.  Good for them!  Hopefully they will be the future of the hobby.  I am looking forward to updating this page MUCH more in the weeks to come.  As soon as the weather lightens up I will be collecting like a bat out of hell… I already have a LONG list of places I want to get to as soon as the snow melts.  If this year’s collecting is HALF as good as last years I will be ecstatic.  I have also spent some time this winter organizing my garage, and I have a bunch of New Jersey minerals for sale that I will hopefully be posting to this site in the next few weeks.  If anyone wants to come by and check out the stuff before I start uploading photos, let me know.  If I can save some time taking photographs and writing descriptions I will make it worth your while (discounts!). 

I like how freewebs will not let me upload a photo of the whole case without turning it on its side...  so this is the best I can do for now.  Freewebs has some serious issues with handling photos, and is starting to get on my nerves....

 9/28/08 - and now the photos are gone... awesome.

This morning was another FOMS trip.  I showed up outside the gates a 8:30 and snapped some photos.  Here is a good one of the dreary morning weather.  It rained on and off all morning, with a brief thunderstorm around 10am.  There was a pretty good turnout despite the crummy weather, I'd say about 10-15 people. 

Two weeks ago was ultraviolation.  I drove the 2 hours down to Fairless Hills, PA from Hamburg, NJ by myself.  My wife was going to join me, but she was not feeling well and at the last minute decided not to go.  There were a lot of familiar faces, sellers and buyers.  This was my first time to ultraviolation, and I enjoyed how they switched the lights on and off.  They also seemed to be giving out a LOT of door prizes, none of which were won by me...

There was a wide range of minerals and prices.  I have not been involved in the fluorescent mineral hobby for very long so I am not the best judge of quality or pricing.  However, there were certainly Franklin minerals of good quality to be found for prices around what I have been seeing on eBay, though there were some good deals to be found.  There were also the $1000 minerals which I looked at, with no intention to buy. 

I bought a Cuspidine from Kurt Hennig, and a Sphalerite/Willemite from GSL Rocks (I think). 

The sphalerite was labeled as "Mill Site Franklin”, had I seen it in daylight I would have known right away it was from SHMM.  Either way it was a nice piece.  The cuspidine, if you know anything about Franklin fluorescents is a pretty rare find, so I paid more for it than I had intended to spend at the show.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I was hesitant to get into collecting Franklin/Sterling Hill minerals for several reasons including the fact that very few quality minerals can still be collected (serious time and effort need to be spent to find them).  Don't get me wrong, you can still collect SOME moderately rare minerals in the area, but mostly you just have to buy things that people have stored away, or release from their own collections.  Which leads me to the second reason I was hesitant to get into Franklin minerals, the price!  If you want some nice willemite, calcite, and hardystonite, no big deal, you can get very nice cabinet pieces in the $20 - $60 range; you might even get some clinohedrite in there.  If you want some esperite on that, you double that range.  Significant esperite, or 4 color pieces, quadrouple that range.  The prices just keep going up from there.  Cuspidine, and margarosanite of cabinet size, forget about it.

So now here I am, I bought my first cuspidine, and I find myself gazing into the black hole of money... rare fluorescent minerals.  I am teetering on a fine line.  I can't get away from fluorescent minerals.  I find them incredibly interesting, and beautiful.  However, I certainly do not have the depth of wallet that is required to be a heavy hitter in the game of fluorescent minerals.  So what is the plan from here on out?  I have to take a step back and realize that there is a hierarchy to Franklin mineral collectors, and I am too late to start working my way up.  So I think this may be my last rare mineral purchase from Franklin.  I don’t plan on adding any margarosanite to my collection.  Field collecting minerals is one of my favorite aspects of mineral collecting, as I have said many times before, so I will continue to try and build up my Franklin suite with good deals and lucky finds…

FOMS and SHMM Collecting

Saturday was the Sterling Hill day and night dig for museum members that I have been looking forward to for a few weeks, since I have never been to a night dig at Sterling Hill.  I was heading out of the house and checked my calendar and realized there was a FOMS trip also.  I decided to stop by the Franklin Mineral Museum on my way to Sterling to check out where the FOMS trip was being held.  They were going to the Taylor Road site, which I had been to once before with only mild success.  But the guys convinced me to stay for a bit a head over to Sterling Hill a little bit late.  I am glad I listened.  Kurt and Bob gave me an idea of what to watch for, and I found my first piece of sphalerite.  In fact I found quite a few pieces of sphalerite and some other purple and orange stuff that I am not sure of the identity.  I posted the photo below as well as the daylight photo in my fluorescent gallery.  

I bet they will be hesitant to help me out next time 8^P.  However, I did offer them what was left after I pulverized the boulder and took a few pieces.  Hopefully it was enough to show my gratitude for helping out a newbie like myself.  I paid up for my 26 lbs, and then I headed over to Sterling Hill. 

I am always overwhelmed when I get to Sterling Hill.  There is so much area to collect; I never know where to start or what exactly to look for.  I am still in the beginner rut of taking home too much mediocre stuff and just boxing it up and never looking at it again, so I tried to be a bit more selective this time.  I poked around in the mine run dump, then headed up to the saddle area, then poked around in the pits a little.  By 1PM I was starving and headed home for some lunch empty handed.  I went back at around 7PM and retraced my previous steps.  I collected some cool phosphorescent willemite veins on the mine run, grabbed another small apatite in the saddle area, and couldn’t resist a couple typical calcite/willemite pieces with interesting patterns.  At about 10 I headed over to McDonalds to grab some burgers with a few fellow collectors.  I didn’t take home any fantastic pieces, but I was so excited to get home and continue sorting through my Taylor Road haul, I didn’t mind.  I only took home about 8 lbs of material from Sterling.

 
A visitor to my site recently sent me an email about who to contact to collect at a quarry.  Unfortunately, my answer was that I have no idea.

Access to quarries, which was already severely restricted, is now completely drying up.  It started with a much anticipated trip to Prospect Park Quarry run by the North Jersey Mineralogical Society being canceled.  I won’t get into the speculation on what the reasons were, it is not important.  This is perhaps the last hoorah for New Jersey Zeolites.  Prospect Park will be closing in 2012.  Millington Quarry has closed, as far as I know there is no access to Braen’s, New Street ended operations in 1925 (with some trimming in the 80’s).  Prospect Park is the only thing we NJ traprock collectors have left, and the countdown clock has already started.  At the ripe old age of 30, I will see the last supply of New Jersey traprock minerals dry up, most likely forever.  What do I do then?

Then I heard that the September open house at Meckley Quarry in Mandata Pennsylvania was being canceled due to regulations of a new insurance company.  This open house has been going on for years, and from what I understand was a great thing for the collecting community.  I went for the first time last year and had a great time.  I waited anxiously all year for the chance to go again.  Only to be disappointed when I started seeing announcements of the cancellation of the open house.

Corporate greed, frivolous lawsuits, carelessness of collectors, urban sprawl, these things are all hurting our hobby significantly.  While some are unavoidable, others can certainly be mitigated.  I am not so foolish that I think mineral collecting should be a top priority of a quarry.  I am not so selfless to think that quarries should let collectors in so we can continue to provide world class specimens for museums.  Let’s be honest about our intentions.  I want to collect minerals for myself.  I like the hard work and the reward.  I like the camaraderie and congratulations that go on when someone makes a great find.  I love putting new pieces in my collection.  I love selling, trading, and even giving away specimens and seeing the looks on people’s faces when they find new exciting pieces for their collections.  I am not a purist, but I have a hobby that I love and want to continue to pursue.  I am not ready to quit cold turkey.

I wonder if the lack of an outcry about the disappearance of our collecting locations is not heard because of the relative obscurity of hobby.  I am sure on a list of hobbies, and even collectible items that minerals are somewhat low on the list.  Perhaps the vast majority don’t understand mineral collecting.  But that should not be a reason to banish it into obscurity and continue to restrict access to localities.  I think it would be like telling coin collectors that they could no longer collect coins, all coins not in circulation must be melted down to make new coins.

What do the quarries want?  What will it take to gain access?  Do you want me to pay an entrance fee?  Done.  Do you want me to pay per pound for what I take?  Done.  Do you want me to have OSHA, MSHA, or some other training?  Done.  Whatever you want I will do it.  I am not looking for a handout.  I understand that allowing mineral collectors in is not a priority.  I understand that your company is about making money.   I don’t want you to go out of business, because that would be bad for mineral collecting too.  I just want to find some mutually beneficial ground where we can gain access to collecting localities, and you can function as normal.  I will be careful, I will sign my life away upon entering the quarry, and if I fall and break my leg I realize it’s my own fault.  I think mineral collectors as a whole have been getting off easy in the past, taking advantage of the generosity of the quarries in letting people in to collect.  Its not required that they do so, but we as collectors should make them want to do so, or AT LEAST TOLERATE IT.  We have to give something in return.  I am going to try to find out what that is.

I apologize for the rant, I have just been really unhappy about my collecting prospects lately.  I am a young collector; I have years ahead of me to collect.  Unfortunately I am beginning to realize I may run out of collecting sites long before I am ready to stop field collecting.  I am not interested in acquiring all of my minerals through purchases.  Field collecting to me is 90% of the hobby, and the reason I got into it in the first place.  I like worldwide minerals, but there's something about owning incredible minerals that were found right near where I live, and collected with my own two hands that makes them something really special.

There is a good article about other closed localities on this website http://njminerals.org/sites.html.  In fact, almost all websites relating to New Jersey minerals have a section on closed localities.  Unfortunately, I have added another.

Franklin Mineral Show Weekend

This weekend was a success for me.  This was my second time setting up at the Franklin show, however it was the first time I actually sold a lot of minerals.  I sold many minerals that I brought with me for very fair prices and hopefully added some great specimens to people's collections.  I didn't make much money, but it covered the cost for the table and my entry, as well as a few mineral purchases of my own.

I heard a lot of great stories this weekend, met some very interesting people, and had a blast.  The best part of the show is the outdoor sale.  The friendly people, and great deals are a real treat and it is a markedly different atmosphere from big indoor shows.  It is a great way to pick up minerals on the cheap from the people who collected them.  I don't blame dealers for marking their prices way up, after all they have to make a living.  However, it often makes it difficult for us cash strapped collectors to put good specimens in our collections.  This is what makes the outdoor sale at the Franklin show so refreshing.  Saturday the threat of rain kept many of the outdoor dealers away, but there was no shortage of attendees, which was great for business and the weather held out all day.  Sunday was the exact opposite, more dealers, less attendees, and rain on and off all day.

I thought the indoor show was a bit disappointing this year.  Prices were high, and the minerals were for the most part not worth the prices I was seeing.  Also, I could not for the life of me find a carved turtle which I always pick up for my wife at these shows for a few bucks.

I also attended the garage sale at Sterling Hill.  This is always an interesting treasure hunt if nothing else.  Unlabeled and mislabeled pieces abound!  If you know your minerals you can pick up dusty old pieces at a great price.  Once taken home, cleaned up, identified, and labeled they can be worth 10 times the purchase price.  You just need a sharp eye.  The problem is many of the minerals go quick, so you need to be there right when they open.  They apparently refresh the minerals throughout the day, but the chances of finding a great piece are much less than getting a mediocre piece at a great price.  I picked up 4 pieces that I thought were interesting for a total of $14.

I was going to head back to SHMM to collect on Sunday, but the rain was on and off, and despite my awesome finds last week I decided not to go back this weekend.  They have a dig for members on the 18th of October, so I will go then and report back with any finds.

FOMS trip to Sterling Hill:

I did some collecting on the mine run dump where I found a few interesting pieces of gemmy willemite, as well as a great cabinet specimen with blobs of zincite and very large (to 1") franklinite crystals.  the exposed franklinite is damaged, however I am going to see if I can expose any undamaged crystals. 

Blue/green daylight apatite was being found in the saddle area (I think that is what they call it).  I took home a 6" wide specimen.  I split it to expose the poorly crystalized apatite lengthwise.  The apatite shows a  nice pale yellow/orange fluorescense under short wave, and it was accompanied by some bright blue fluorescing hydrozincite which contrasted nicely.  I may put the other half of it up for sale, it is a nice piece and I don't see too much apatite from Sterling Hill on the market.  I will update the site with photos when time permits (hopefully soon, I have quite a backlog of specimens to photograph).