While there weren't too many displays at the show, there were a few things that caught our eye. One of those things was this picture of Charles Wheatley, the proprietor of the Wheatley Mine (as well as its namesake). The Wheatley Mine was originally opened around 1850 and was closed for good by 1920. It was a lead and silver mine and is perhaps best known among collectors for its classic pyromorphite specimens. Charles Wheatley was also a mineral collector - I am sure owning a magnificent pyromorphite locality was a great advantage in terms of trading!!! We aslo saw a display that featured several radioactive specimens and a book on radioactive specimens of Pennsylvania. Much to our dismay, there were no actual radioactive specimens from Pennsylvania in the display. But, as luck would have it, we found a francevillite from Pennsylvania at the show - how about that?!

And of course, no respectable Pennsylvania show would be complete without a general display of Pennsylvania minerals. Of particular note were this amethyst from Delaware County and this calcite specimen from York County. It is difficult to fully appreciate them from these photos as there was no adequate lighting on the case. However, the amethyst was doubly terminated with pronounced, saturated violet color at each end and the calcite crystal was large, lustrous, and had significant clarity.

Here is a view of all the action at the show. Do you see any familiar faces in the crowd?

Aside from attending the show, Mandy and I also looked at a private collection this week. All told we acquired a few hundred specimens this week. These specimens will be making their way onto the site and our ebay auctions in the upcoming weeks. However, it is not just a simple process of acquiring a specimen from an old collection, photographing it and selling it. Many of the specimens need significant preperation and cleaning before we sell them. We encounter specimens in all kinds of conditions. I thought it might be fun to share our techniques and some of things we've learned over the years. These are some of the more useful products that we use for various purposes.

Pyrite with Rust

On the left you can see that the pyrite crystal has a significant area of iron stain on the largest face. After treatment with the oxalic acid (in the form of "Iron Out") the pyrite crystal shows its gleaming metallic brilliance.

An old, cruddy, box containing a barely visible mineral specimen. This is an all too common sight for us. Unfortunately buying "old" collections means buying all the "old" containers, mountings, and boxes that go along with them. This is typical example of what I have to do before a specimen goes up for sale.

Upon removing the specimen from its old plastic box it is clear that the specimen is affixed to the styrofoam base with something other than mineral tack. I then carefully remove the majority of styrofoam with a small pair of nippers (small nippers are always close by as they are excellent for quick minor trim jobs). Careless removal of styrofoam, by just ripping a specimen off of it, has resulted in more than just one broken specimen.

With most of the styrofoam removed, one can easily see what kind of glue we are dealing with. In this case it is clear to me that it is not a water-soluble "Elmer's" type glue, which usually has a slightly milky appearance. So I know I need to use acetone to remove it from the specimen. However, if you are not sure you can always try water first and if it doesn't work then dry it off and soak it in acetone. I have found that starting out with acetone on a water-soluble glue can make things more difficult for some reason.

After letting the specimen soak in acetone for a little while, I remove it from the solution and use a stiff bristled paint brush to gently brush away the softened glue and remaining styrofoam. This process is repeated until all the glue is gone.

These two pictures are from right near our house here in Manasquan, New Jersey. On the left is the old Draw Bridge. It is on our street, about a block away and it is over 100 years old. On the right is a scene looking out the Manasquan Inlet to the Atlantic Ocean. When I was a teenager, I caught baitfish in these waters for sale at a local baitshop.

On March 1st & 2nd, the New York Mineralogical Society in conjunction with Tony Nikischer of Excalibur Mineral Corporation held mineral show in New York City. Here is a picture of Mandy riding on the train. The train takes us from within walking distance of our house, along the coastline, right into the heart of Manhattan.

Here is a quick pic from Times Square on our walk from Penn Station to 57th Street where the Mineral Show was. One of the dealers at the show was friend and mineral genius extraordinaire, Alfredo Petrov. We are always excited to see Alfredo. His selection of rare species is a constant source of excellent and fascinating material. In addition to his fantastic material he has been an invaluable source of information and insights for us over the years.

Fluorite Caterpillar

In closing, I'd like to leave you with this picture of a "fluorite caterpillar." We sold this specimen several years ago and today it resides in the collection of Charlotte Sussman's Animal-Like Specimens along side the famous, and admittedly cuter, "Lavinsky Bear" schorl tourmaline specimen. This picture was lucky enough to be a "Photo of the Day" on www.mindat.org!