Minerals.net

In 2018, I made an additional trip to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. I wanted to photograph several additional iconic mineral and gemstone specimens in their collection on display in the gem and mineral halls. I also wanted to add some more rare and unusual minerals to the mineral detail pages of Minerals.net.

The post below contains some additional favorites of mine in the collection that I did not include in the coverage of my previous Smithsonian visit. These include interesting minerals and rarities.

Please view some of our earlier posts from our visit to the Smithsonian in 2015 by clicking here.

The East Coast Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show has just wrapped up this past weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts. Popularly known as the "Springfield Show," this show is the most significant mineral event in the Eastern United States. Marty Zinn, who ran this show for many years, has recently retired, and the show is now managed by LLD Productions under Laura and Bob Delano, with Marty remaining as a consultant.

This show traditionally takes place on the second weekend of August, from Friday through Sunday. Many prominent dealers are present, and many good deals and new finds can be made. There is also a nice representation of East Coast collectors, with a large concentration of old and unusual material from the Northeastern United States.

The show staff organize an exceptional display exhibit every year, featuring the collection of a prominent collector in public showcases near the entrance of the show. These exhibits are organized and displayed very well, with a nice set up and good lighting of over 50 display cases of outstanding minerals.

This year's show featured the collection of Dave and Karen DeBruin. Dave and Karen have been collecting for the past 35 years, and have amassed an outstanding collection of beautiful display minerals. Their collection was featured this year at the show, highlighting their fine mineral pieces and showing their collecting preferences. Their favorite mineral is clearly Galena, and they had several cases devoted to this mineral, with a strong concentration from the Midwest as well as worldwide Galena in all sorts of forms and habits. Another favorite of theirs is Apophyllite, with many important specimens displayed, including some unusual pink ones. Calcite and Fluorite from the Midwest are also well-represented, with large and colorful specimens in many of the cases.

Additional highlights from their collection include Michigan Copper, minerals from the Montreal Iron Mine in Wisconsin, unusual Quartz crystals, Mexican Amethyst, Michigan Celestine, minerals from Honduras, Quartz Gwindels, Pyrite, and Sphalerite.

This Show report will be divided in to 6 individual posts: This first introductory post, two posts on the public displays, two posts on the individual mineral displays, and one post on interesting dealer minerals. Please use the shortcut links below to access these links:

• The 2018 Springfield Mineral Show, Part 2: Display Cases
• The 2018 Springfield Mineral Show, Part 3: Display Cases
• The 2018 Springfield Mineral Show, Part 4: Individual Display Minerals
• The 2018 Springfield Mineral Show, Part 5: Individual Display Minerals
• The 2018 Springfield Mineral Show, Part 6: Dealer Minerals

This is our second post of the The East Coast Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show (AKA the Springfield Show), and it features some of the exhibit displays of Dave and Karen DeBruin's fabulous mineral collection.

This post highlights some of their cases at the show, which include a display on Michigan Copper; Calcite minerals from Racine, Wisconsin; minerals from Santa Barbara, Honduras; Quartz oddities from worldwide localities; blue Celestine (mostly from the Midwest); minerals from Cave-in-Rock, Illinois; and several cases of Galena, Apophyllite, Calcite.

This fourth post of the 2018 The East Coast Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show in Springfield, Massachusetts, features some of the outstanding individual minerals seen on public display in the exhibit displays of Dave and Karen DeBruin, the featured collectors of this years' show collection.