FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Jordi Fabre]

[Jordi Fabre]

Interesting thought stumpy.

Recommended reading: "Very little mineralogy in mineral collecting today" -> https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?t=12

[Ed Huskinson]

Whoa, Stumpy. I wasn't invited to the GRAND OPENING either. But I still enjoy acquiring things (on my own terms and for my own enjoyment). I bring them home and curate them and bond with them as do we all. It is a bit discouraging to find oneself standing on the sidelines as the dinero express train roars by, carrying its load of unobtainium past me. Eh, I just absorb the blow and look harder to find over-looked things, bargains, specimens that are reasonably priced. Reasonably priced. There's the use of the word "reason". Reason has fallen by the wayside. I've said it for years now. "It's the power of legitimacy". Paying these insane prices legitimizes the lunacy.

So you shake your head in wonderment and think "What will happen when the bubble bursts.". Except it won't. Minerals are not like houses (except for the cost). There is a finite supply, you can't build more. They will appreciate in value, simple as that. And sure, the fact that a piece was formerly owned oh, wait "From the collection of so-and-so"... adds to it's cachet, and can be an important consideration for some peopleto be factored into the decision of whether to buy or not. This cannot be ignored. Still, I cannot fly in the face of blatant entrepenurialism. The dealers are in it to make money. If not, they'd be plumbers or architects or whatever. I empathize with your frustration and understand your cynicism.

As for all the smiloing faces? Perhaps it is because the smiling person / people just acquired a great specimen, one that gives them pleasure to behold. Or perhaps it's just that this is such a limited brotherhood that we revel in one another's companionship. Think about it, I think that Thomas Moore said it best: "We thrive like misted ferns in the richly mineralized soil of our harmless, obsessive benevolent common concern." (MR, vol 28, #1).

I'm sure that this is the reason that everyone is so happy at a mineral show, don't you agree?? The only time when I have been disappointed is when I have passed up a good deal, realized my mistake, and returned to find the piece already sold to the next guy who recognized it for the smokin' deal that it was. Sometimes I try to justify having passed it up by thinking to myself "Eh, it had a ding here, and a Wilber there, and it was too big (or too small, whatever)". Many of them remain here in my mind's eye as an example of perfection incarnate (to quote Les Presmyk). Some of those missed opportunities stay with me to this day.
So, it's complicated. Me, I enjoy what I have and enjoy sharing with everyone else, posting a photo or two now and then. Basically, that's what we all do here on FMF.

Several of us have noticed that FMF has taken a less than scientific turn lately, That's fine, it's just the way it goes. Perhaps it's because so many collectors are traveling (going to Denver?), or busy.

This thread is sure to generate many responses, and I thank you for starting it up. Here's a picture of a rock to "legitimize" my response.

[lluis]

Good afternoon, Ed

I suppose that I will be in the pack of "people stumping backs", my trouble (I am chemist, I collect systematic, I buy only perfect pieces (yes, as perfect as could be been undamaged under 10x lenses) and I am not as rich as a Rockefeller (my sorrow!))

But if anytime you sell any of your items (with your label....They caught me!), you have a buyer.
Pretty smithsonite with an excellent label!
My congratulations (heartily)
With best wishes

Lluís

[Gail]

Ed is a fabulous calligrapher.

[Peter Megaw]

Gee Ed, I recognize that smithsonite pseudo from the mineral quiz you put in the exhibit case back at UT during the Pleistocene...loved it then, still love it...even if it's not from Mexico! I do collect pseudos though, especially smithsonite, so put me on the list too!

Our hobby...and this forum...both cover a huge spectrum of activities, from acquisition (and disquisition) of specimens, study and curation of same, mineralogical musings and education with socializing in between. Some of the threads are more scientific than others...and I would enocurage anyone who wants to ratchet up the gravitas of the Forum to start more scientific threads on a regular basis, there are plenty of us eager to join in. Also, many threads start out social and turn scientific... and vice versa, so you may have to look past the headings and initial pictures.

I agree that some of the more prominent aspects of the hobby (read...big flashy trophy pieces) attract more attention and $ than others and an argument can be made that they make some of the publications we enjoy profitable enough to carry the scientific articles that regularly occasionally...albeit without as much color. As far as ads go, I'm not fussed by the "collection of" ads...they pay the freight. Personally I'd put the money into a rock (or rocks) but I guess when you get into such rarified levels it's hard to find rocks to buy...something I am pleased to say has never been an issue for me, my interests and desires to acquire always have exceeded my pocketbook.

[Jordi Fabre]

[Ed Huskinson]

Thank you Gail, Luis. I am honored by your kind remarks. My calligraphy is self taught. Autodidactic, if you will. It was in 1975, maybe 1976. I was examining a wonderful pyromorphite (from Bad Ems, Germany, I believe). It had an old tyme label, hand-written, in calligraphy, the way so many of the older collectors had done it. I said "Gee, i sure wish I could do that.". Then I thought "Why not?". I bought a set of pens and began to teach myself. I used a music nib at first, then other Osmiroids and whatnot. finally wound up with a simple Shaeffer "No Nonsense" calligraphy set. It works just fine for my things.

Oh Gail: thank you too, for posting the other photos of the brochantites as well as the label ( https://www.mineral-forum.com/message-board/viewtopic.php?p=13205#13205 ) Here's hoping that many more of them come to light in the coming year, eh?

So, for display, I make the simplest label possible. There is usually a lot of fill-in info on the obverse. All acquisition data stays with the original dealer's label. That's just the way I do it.

And Pete, I cannot believe that you remember that little display I put in at UT back in the Plio-Pleistocene. Your memory is phenomenal. As to your comments on collecting at a more rarified level, well, at first we were paying for the dealers' "eye". If you could not get to the show early enough to score from whoever had hit the new big pocket, then you had to buy from the dealers who had creamed the lot. I recognized this some years ago, but then it became more and more difficult to get a shot at the good stuff. Just the way it is. To deal is to hustle.and one is not always rewarded for the endeavors So I'd go to Cal or Brad or Harvey and get the best piece from them that i could afford. Sometimes that I could not afford, had to make time payments. Still, I regret nothing, save for the Tschermigite I bought that one year. So now I have a subset of fakes / manufactured specimens, just for giggles.

[Jesse Fisher]

Mineral collecting is pretty much equal parts science, commerce, and social interaction. Humans are social animals after all, and I think a lot of people enjoy seeing photos of their fellow collectors having fun at shows along with occasionally getting into arguments about things like the latest hash made of the pyrochlore group nomenclature. That's the nature of human interaction. Not all collectors collect for scientific reasons, and each person's motivation is as valid as the next.

As to the "vanity" ads in some mineral collecting journals, while I can't pretend to circulate in that social strata of the collecting community, I can certainly understand the benefit to the publication as they bring in much needed funds. This allows the publication to produce a lot more color printing than it's relatively meager subscriber base would otherwise allow. It is my understanding that a color journal such as the one in discussion needs a paid circulation base of around 10,000 copies per issue to become profitable. The one in question currently operates at slightly under 5,000. If all the folks who seem to like to complain about these ads would put their money where their mouth is and take out subscriptions, perhaps the journal would be less reliant on them to produce the quality publication that it is. But then, if the well-off collectors who are purchasing these ads stopped doing so, they would likely use the money to buy yet more specimens, further driving up the competition for (and the cost of) the best ones. Can't win, can we?

Cheers,
Jesse