FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[silvia]

[Carles Millan]

[James Catmur]

I tend to think of the order: knowledge, contacts, and mobility. Some of the best specimens are obtained through the 'right place at the right time' method. Read the book about Arthur Russell to see how he built his collection.

[Carles Millan]

And the superb booklet from Rock H. Currier About Mineral Collecting, a reprint of the Mineralogical Record. I'm never tired of re-reading it. I'm still missing Rock a lot.

[silvia]

[Jordi Fabre]

[silvia]

Despite what many people might think I do not make these comments to be hurtful. I make them to be helpful. During the course of my work as a professional teacher I had to say things that some parents could not accept about their children. This often related to the students’ performance in standardized tests, their overall academic performance and their future career options. We live in a society that promotes many myths and the myth that anyone can be anything they want to be only if they try hard enough, is a myth. If you are not competent at mathematics you will not be a competent research scientist or engineer. If you are not good at sport you will never make it to the Olympics as a competitive athlete, no matter how hard you try. Such myths hurt rather than aid a student’s overall mental and physical development.

Mineral collecting also has many similar myths too. I often help many young and inexperienced collectors acquire minerals. The main thrust of my help relates to the need to be thrifty. I often tell them to save their money, and when they have enough money then buy something good. This begs the question of course, what is enough? What is good? Hard questions to answer and questions best answered with a few examples.

Take for example common sulphide minerals such as Galena, Sphalerite, Pyrite and Chalcopyrite. These are as common as ‘muck’ and there are thousands of such Sulphide specimens available for sale online, at mineral shows, for sale in crystal healing stores and available at Museum gift shops. The vast majority are really just ore cleavage samples with sparkle. Let us focus on specimens in the small cabinet size, and by small cabinet I mean specimens that would fit snuggly into a box of the following dimensions – 80 mm x 80 mm x 80 mm.



Galena – starting at $450USD and rising in multiples of $100USD
Sphalerite – starting at $450USD and rising in multiples of $100USD
Chalcopyrite – starting at $450USD and rising in multiples of $100USD

So for $450USD you could obtain a fine collector quality specimen. By collector quality I mean a specimen with no major peripheral damage, containing well-formed undamaged crystals with a great luster.

As the size, shape and luster of the individual crystals increase the price of the specimen also increases, and such specimens could attract $2000USD and some may even attract $5000USD. Some specimens containing large single well-formed crystals of Galena, Sphalerite and Chalcopyrite fall into this price range.

[minsur]

[Forrestblyth]

I have enjoyed the posting about value aspect in collecting and would also love to add another perspective. A shout out for the penniless collector lol.

I think you are missing a real treat if you don’t collect your own specimens for free. From a child even a walk along the beach added many fine specimens to my collection. Add a little bit research from forums like this and you can always find even more interesting locations that offer even better natural specimens from the field, and it won't cost you a penny. Everyone has something in nature within a few miles of their home that brings mineralogical happiness. Even in a city I have been known to spot something nice in road fill! Might just be me lol

Another thing, from personal experience nothing beats a fresh crystal freshly plucked from the ground, rinse the muck from it in the nearby beck or gill and the specimen is the most vibrant it will ever be. From that moment onward it is in decline on its desiccating journey to the mineral cabinet. It will never be the same as that first moment. This is something you will never experience Store bought.

That brings me to the other benefit for the no cost collector. It could be just a Northern England peculiarity, but like many in my area the bulk of myself collection sits outside on the wall. In Northumberland, Weardale and Yorkshire many fine mineral collections sit on display in the open in people's gardens on walls. Is this practice replicated other parts of the world. I have added a couple of pictures of my wall display. There is about 50ks of self-collected chunks that I love to enjoy, correctly hydrated in natural daylight. Would I do this if I paid for each specimen? Perhaps not. The 4k chunk of Weardale fluorite in my hand would probably cost more than I would be comfortable leaving unattended, but I am no expert in value so happily leave them out happily ignorant. Another point, it brings me great pleasure to often pop out in the evening with my UV lamp and see my wall glow with huge iridescence. Also, this outside display allows me to view the amazing daylight fluorescence. I never get the buzz like this from my shop bought indoor collection.

[James Catmur]

Do watch out for people who remove them from your garden/wall. That has happened to me a number of times. Annoying, even when they are of little value

James

[James Catmur]

Any form of collecting will atract many types, including those who do it as an investment. Some will become well-informed and some will not. People trading such material will try to make a living by selling high and if you are well informed you will know what you are buying.

I have inherited a family collection of documents, drawings, daguerrotypes and ambrotypes that we keep because they are related to our ancestors not for their value, that said I have spent some time becoming more informed so that I understand what I hold. I have given some to relevant museums, as that makes sense to me and no one in the family objected. The value of the small collection is not the point to me, but having old photos, paintings and drawings dating back as long as ago as 1700 is neat. Some are really interesting - such as the book of watercolors done by my great-grandmother of her 1840s grand tour of Europe (back before photography, so the only way to record images of her trip).

[Roger Warin]

To be or not to be a collector?

Regardless of the psychological origin of this need to preserve, which is certainly not relevant in our consumer society, some people become attached to memories.
Personally, when I followed my mother on foot or in a cart (with horse) on the roads of France, leaving from the Belgian South of Luxembourg-Province to the Allier Department near Vichy in May 1940, I picked up pebbles (which she quickly threw away).
I was 11 years old when a little neighbor, younger me, showed me a blue stone that bubbled when he added a few drops of salt spirit to the stone. I had never seen stone boil.
Moreover, when I was 12, a teacher taught me how to develop black and white photo films: developer + fixer. It was magic. How? Why?
I found the answers by becoming a chemist. I have lived all my life at Univ. Liege where I have been happy: research (> 150 papers) and teaching.
One can become a collector of objects or a collector of ideas.
I prefer to collect ideas rather than objects, but these are still pleasant to contemplate when they reinforce your ideas, allowing you to improve them.
The collection requires means: you have to make sacrifices on other passions.
My advice:
First learn, then choose a crystal that matches your readings.
Only one, even if it is expensive (relative according to many parameters) rather than 20 which are only mediocre.
Avoid collecting labels, it is the crystal that is important.
PS: throughout my life, I have only known devaluations of money...
But I eat better today than when I was young.

[Carles Millan]

[silvia]

I am happy that so many people have contributed to this thread. I had much trepidation about posting my feelings and thoughts on the cost of collecting minerals. It can become a very sensitive topic, and at times very emotional. In todays ‘cancel-culture’ society it is a subject that can cause many problems for those who post. I am happy that FMF is beyond that.

My partner and I, especially my partner, collects the chemical elements and creates periodic tables of the chemical elements made from real elements. The connection between minerals and the chemical elements is a straightforward one, yet few mineral collectors’ also collect the chemical elements. More on this in subject in another thread!

- Minerals and Chemical Elements

Though chemical element sets can now be purchased commercially my partner takes it one step further. For example he has sealed 100 ml of Bromine (99.9%) in a thick-walled (2.5 mm) borosilicate glass tube under vacuum and encased the tube in a cylinder of high impact resistant resin. The bromine has the appearance of blood with a thick vapour of bright-red gaseous Bromine above the liquid. The aesthetics are just outstanding, and the intensity of the colour of the Bromine vapour changes with changes in room temperature. Many who have seen it say they have seen nothing like it anywhere. He has done similar things with Chlorine and Iodine.

At the moment he is working on the carbon group elements. He is casting a disc of Tin 200 mm wide and 35 mm thick. The disk will be divided into four segments by machining a V-groove (5 mm deep) across the surface of the disk. Two segments will be polished to a mirror finish and two segments will be etched. One segment will be etched to show the macro-crystalline structure of Tin and the other segment will be etched to highlight the micro-crystalline structure of Tin. The only cost was the cost of the metal which was relatively inexpensive. The remainder is just a labour of love.


- The MIM Connection

Salim Edde contacted my partner (via Mindat) three years ago about collecting the chemical elements. In the 1990’s before Salim started collecting minerals he was keen to establish a fine collection of the chemical elements, but nothing that appealed to him was commercially available. He then abandoned the idea of establishing a chemical element collection. My partner also experienced the same problems. The only way he could overcome them was to acquire rudimentary glass blowing skills and basic machining skills using a lathe and milling machine. He also has the facilities to melt and cast metals with a melting point slightly higher than that of Iron. He is working on other techniques too, such as growing metal crystal under vacuum. He does not do this work commercially but he does make special exhibits, such as birthday or Christmas gifts, for those who genuinely love the chemical elements.

[David]

Hello, Silvia,

I would say that as long as you do not necessarily look to collect big and colorful crystals you should be able to find reasonable quality minerals at reasonable costs.
Diversifying your sources also helps a lot in getting better quality at lower prices.
For sure, if you have a couple of millions to spend on minerals, that helps you secure a quality collection very fast. But is that what you really want, a quick fix? You get some instant gratification and then what?
I think you can obtain more satisfaction on the long run when you have limited resources, because you enjoy every piece you can buy, you prioritize, you feel that your collection is growing and improving.
I don't have to spend a lot of money to feel happy about mineral collecting. And if someone would say that I don't have a quality collection, I really don't care, I collect for my own pleasure.
So don't worry, keep collecting, and happy hunting! :)