Minerals.net

The East Coast Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show (or more commonly known as the Springfield show) is the most significant mineral event on the East Coast. It occurs during the second weekend in August in the Eastern States Exposition Center in West Springfield, Massachusetts. In addition to having many of the prominent domestic mineral dealers, there is also a phenomenal public display exhibit every year, often highlighting the minerals of a significant collector or collection.

After last year's hiatus due to Covid, the show this year was in full swing with a very strong attendance. All the dealers I expected to see were there, and they all told me how good the show was. I was impressed by the volume of foot traffic and the amount of business going on. It was great to see those in the mineral community after such a long time, since many of the big shows had been cancelled over the past year and a half. This was my first major show in that amount of time, and my first opportunity to see many friends and acquaintances after such a long time. 

The special exhibit featured Fluorite from the collection of Dr. James Gebel. Jim Gebel, as he is more popularly known, lives in the Cleveland area, and is Chairman of Neurology at Akron General Medical Center. He is an expert in the mineral Fluorite, and has an outstanding collection of this mineral from all different locations domestic and worldwide.

Jim was supposed to display his Fluorite collection at the 2020 Springfield show, but the show was canceled and his exhibit postponed to this year. It was truly amazing seeing his impressive fluorite collection, and I was able to photograph each case and highlight individual minerals in each case. The most impressive cases and minerals are featured here, with the first post on the mineral cases, and the second post on some of the individual minerals in the cases.

Our second post of the East Coast Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show (AKA the Springfield show) highlights some of the individual display minerals in the public exhibit of renowned Fluorite collector Dr. James Gebel. The displays featured outstanding Fluorite in labelled cases from all parts of the world, with special attention given to the southern Illinois Fluorite district. Below are photos taken by Hershel Friedman of his favorite and most photogenic specimens in the displays.

When I was at the Mineral City show in Tucson, I met Italian fine mineral dealer Frederico Barlocher at the room of Lithos Minerals. Lithos had some very interesting new mineral finds, and I was chatting with Frederico about them. He then invited me outside to the parking lot to show me some amazing specimens for our blog, that he had in his car. I was blown away by the quality of these specimens, and included these minerals as an individual news post.

Alex Amiel of Crystallize had some fascinating, newly-released Fluorite, Selenite, Celestine, Sphalerite, and other minerals from the Dolomite quarries of Western New York. Exceptional Fluorite has been sporadically mined from the Penfield and Walworth Quarries near Rochester, with blue and purple being the best known. Alex recently acquired an old collection from Bob Hiler, a native of the Rochester area who spent many years collecting fine minerals at these quarries.

Bob recently dispersed his collection, and Alex acquired a dazzling array of minerals, including many from the Penfield Quarry. I was blown away at the quality and quantity of what Alex had shown me at the Tucson Mineral City Show, and the highlights are presented below.

An amazing new find at Tucson 2020 was large, acicular Rutile with a golden yellow color from Ibiajara, Bahia, Brazil. These golden yellow Rutile have been coming out from Brazil for many years, often associated with Hematite or included with Quartz, but never have the Rutile crystals been this large and impressive.