FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Tom Mazanec]

Those of you who have hundreds (or thousands) of minerals in your collection, how did you get most of them? Rock hunting field trips? Buying online? Mineral shows? Trade with other collectors? Some other way?

[Fiebre Verde]

Time, inspiration and budget.

[Peter Megaw]

The flip answer is "by any means fair or foul" ...but I suspect you're serious, so here goes.

In rank order

1. Buying directly from miners and middlemen in Mexico and elsewhere

2. Buying from dealers direct or at shows; dominantly in USA but also internationally (ie Fabre Minerals)

3. Self-collecting

4. Trading with other collectors

5. On-line

Buying on-line has only existed as a possibillty during the most recent quarter of my collecting history. However, I have only rarely been really happy with on-line purchases and find there is no substitute for examining a piece in person

[Bob Harman]

Unlike stamps and coins where printing figures, even for older classic issues, are well known, mineral specimens have a largely unknowable number for each mineral. This includes most minerals from most locations and also each individual example is more or less unique with no real standard of aesthetic perfection.

What all this means for me is that I have decided to have a narrowly focused collection. Indiana minerals only and especially hi end Indiana geodes. I have, in the last 25 years or so, amassed a large and rather nice collection. These were obtained both by self collecting, as I live just minutes from some of the best sites, and buying. I supplement my self collecting with purchasing some from other collectors as they are made available.

Recently I have begun donating a few of my highest end examples to the Indiana State Museum where they are to go on permanent display after upgrading their galleries is completed by year's end. You can see several recently donated examples in the Min Rec's July - August Midwest Mineral Collections supplement under "Indiana State Museum" pages and also on The" Midwest Sedimentary Geode" thread on the Mindat website.

So Tom, that is a short summary of how I got to be where I am with my collection. CHEERS......BOB

[alfredo]

In my case, coincidentally, the same 5 ways Peter mentioned, and in the same order!

[Philip Simmons]

I also agree with Peter about the ways of acquiring specimens for my collection, but the order is a bit different.

1. Self-collecting - New Mexico still has a lot of great places to collect
2a. Trading with other collectors
2b. Buying from dealers/collectors at shows
3. Buying directly from miners
4. On-line

[basti]

I have now about 500 catalogued specimens, about 300 other specimens in the cleaning and prep process and something between 1000-2000 "leftovers".

About 2/3 of my collection are self collected and obviously most leftovers too.

About 1/3 is bought or swapped.

[Herman van Dennebroek]

In my collection are present about 3500 specimens, most of them small cabinet size and also thumbnail size or something in between.

About 20% of my collection is self collected in Europe, USA and Canada

About 15 % Trading or swapping with other collectors

10 % Buying directly from miners

55% Buying from dealers direct or at shows

Just a few were purchased on the Internet. The same what Peter says; I prefer examining a piece in person.

[Mark Randle]

I forgot about this thread but am glad to see it come to life again.
As alluded to above, there are many types of collectors; those who only purchase aesthetic specimens, locale specialists, size, chemical composition, investment, etc. Pretty much any way you can subdivide interest in minerals.

When I started out as a callow youth I focused on pieces that drew my eye and specimens I could self collect. Over the years my interest has changed, but not not radically. Because I am a full-time field collector most of the pieces I have now are self collected. I still purchase or swap for material sometimes, and always keep specimens that are gifted to me, but the connection to the specimen is engendered by the human interest aspect, the story if you will. I have had some of the best moments of my life collecting with friends and colleagues; to be honest some of the less savory experiences remain equally strong in my mind as well though.

The problem with collecting as vocation rather than avocation dictates that much (sometimes all!) of the very best material has to be divested so the bills get paid and the next effort can be funded. I try to ameliorate that pain whenever possible by attempting to sell to folks who truly love the piece rather than viewing it through the lens of monetary value. It doesn't always happen of course, but it soothes my mind a bit to try. I have said many times that if I could afford to do so I would only give specimens away to those who would truly appreciate them.

So, to return to topic, probably 80% of the material I have is self collected, another 10% is from people I know who either collected it themselves or have a link to who did, the other 10% purchased because I just liked it.

Mark

[Tobi]

I must confess that there are no self-collected specimens in my display collection, only in boxes and drawers. Most of the 140 specimens in my display collection are purchased at shows or from some selected dealers/collectors that I consider friends. There was a time, from 2010 until recently, when I also purchased many specimens online. But like Peter and Herman said, there is no substitute for examining a specimen in person, so I'm not buying anymore online.

[lluis]

Hi, Tobi

I purchase all my items. Around 2000+. From when I was around 12 y.o.....and now I am 59 y.o.
Some are gifts from sellers. And appreciated a lot, besides.
Being in Barcelona, where there are only three fairs in a year, I am buying many pieces online.
And, if you know seller, and seller is honourable, you can rely in him.... I sometimes buy only for description by a known seller. Never get unhappy.
Only one time, I get a piece that was cleaved, returned to seller, and never got my money back. All in mails in his time. Not a big one, but known in USA.

So, all said and known, I buy generally online. For time ans quickness. Even from Jordi (only 3/4 hours far from me, but need to go, be there and choose..... :-)). Being a selfemployee, not always have the luxus to spend this half an hour+ .... So, online, and very happy with Jordi items.... :-)

With best wishes

Lluís

[Riccardo Modanesi]

Hi to everybody!
Self-collecting, trading with other collectors especially abroad, visiting mines, attending mineralogical shows and bourses,...
there are plenty of ways for acquiring specimens! What's important is YOU LIKE what you acquired.
Greetings from Italy by Riccardo.

[Jamison Brizendine]

Tom,

The majority of my specimens are purchased, but I have a few minerals that I collected as a college student from field trips.

Of the purchased specimens, the majority come from the various mineral shows in Ohio and Indiana. I prefer to purchase minerals at shows, because I get an opportunity to talk to the various mineral dealers about what they are selling. It seems to me many dealers are becoming frustrated at our shows because most of their customers are more interested in just the “aesthetic factor” and not its crystallography or geologic environment in which it was found. Besides shows are fun to attend and I have found a lot of sleeper specimens at booths. Last week I attended a mineral show that had a silent auction and I found a nice 13 cm specimen of fluorescent calcite, franklinite and willemite from New Jersey for the princely sum of 2 dollars and fifty cents.

I also do buy specimens online occasionally, including Ebay, but I look very carefully before making any decisions. In fact I was surprised to find a very nice calcite on Ebay from a locality that I visited as a senior in college, called Pilot Knob, Missouri. The town was known as an early Missouri iron producer during the American Civil War and the Pilot Knob Mine was visible from our hotel where we stayed at. The mine is now a protected bat refuge…

[Tony L. Potucek]

This is a very good question/thread. My collection originated in the following order:
1. Purchase from dealers.
2. Purchase from other collectors/those who collected the specimen(s).
3. Self collected.
4. A distant last place--on line purchases.

Regarding the last category, I rarely have been happy with on line purchases from dealer web sites. I am not sure why I even bother any more, because what I see in a 2D image does not correlate well with my actual 3D experience; i.e., when I hold a specimen, inspect it (for quality, lack of damage and aesthetics) and get an actual physical sensation while viewing it in person. That sensation answers my primary question: do I want this specimen in my collection? If yes, then I look at the price to see if it is within range of what I find acceptable to pay for the specimen. I am not much of a haggler. Either the price point is a fair asking price or it is not. If not, I walk away.

One final note. Many specimens are photographed in an optimum viewing angle, staying away from the view that best shows damage/contacts for obvious reasons. More dealers are now showing multiple views to eliminate this issue, and I applaud this change. Regardless, I need to hold and examine a specimen before I buy.