We have added the following two minerals into our system:

• Apophyllite
• Carletonite

We have also added several new pictures on Franklinite.

This past weekend was the Franklin Mineral Show in Franklin, New Jersey. Franklin is the "Fluorescent Mineral Capital of the World", and one of the world's most prolific localities in the amount of minerals it has produced. This show is a great compliment to this wonderful mineral locality. The Franklin Show is located in the grounds of the Franklin public school, and takes over the outdoor and indoor part of the school. There are two Franklin shows every year, one in the spring and another in the fall, with both being a similar format.

The weather was excellent both Saturday and Sunday, and this really enahanced the outdoor part of the show, where dozens of dealers had setup and were enjoying the bright sun and perfect spring temperatues. Many of the local dealers and mineral people in the area coming together to both buy and sell, and there is an especially strong presence of local New Jersey material at this show. The indoor part of the show has a fluorescent display room with both public exhibits of fluorescent minerals as well as those for sale. The show also arranges a small public exhibit, and I took photos of these. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera tripod, so I was unable to properly capture the fluorescent display.

Here are some pictures from the show that I took on Sunday. All these photos can be clicked for an enlarged pop-up.

The outside part of the show, facing the school
   

Another view of the outside show, facing away from the school
 

The indoor part of the show
  

Fluorescent Exhibit. I apologize for the poor image quality of the fluorescents.
  

Amazing case of Rhodonites from the Franklin Mineral Museum
  

Very large Willemite inside the display case of John Kolic
  

Display case of Steven Kuitems - "Classic Franklin Minerals"
  

Large polyhedral crystal of Franklinite in the case of Steven Kuitems
  

New Jersey Stilbites case by Brad Plotkin
  

Large, classic Stilbite from Great Notch, NJ, with several classic labels
in the display case of Brad Plotkin
  

"Crystal Classics" case of Bernard Kozykowski
  

Another "Crystal Classics" case of Bernard Kozykowski
  

Interesting Pyrite Case by Irwin and Lorraine Hammer

We have blasted our latest edition of the Minerals.net online newsletter.

This is our final posting of the NY-NJ Gem & Mineral show. This posting showcases some of the fluorescent display cases that were hosted by the show. The cases were setup by the Franklin Mineral Museum in a darkroom, with a nice variety of different fluorescing minerals from Franklin and Sterling Hill.

There were several cases with large Ultraviolet lamps above the cases shining on the minerals. There was even one case that was open without a glass in the front, so that the minerals in the case could be touched. Glenn Rhein also had a case present of minerals from his finds in nearby Amity, New York. The two most promiment fluorescent minerals at Franklin are Willemite, which fluoresces green, and Calcite, which fluoresces orange.

This report shows the display cases of Bradley Plotkin, Glenn Rhein, and the Franklin Museum. Bradley Plotkin is a collector specializing in New Jersey minerals, and his collection is one of the finest of the area. His collection also contains many historic specimens, including those from the Bergen Hill Railroad cut in the Palisades cliffs across Manhattan. Brad filled two dislay cases, showcasing Bergen Hill minerals, copper minerals from New Jersey, as well as several other New Jersey localities such as Millington.

Glenn Rhein put up a case of the finds on his property in Amity, New York. Glenn found an amazing discovery of many different minerals, with some exceptional scapolite, diopside, titanites, and spinels. (We have produced a video report on Glenn's amazing find.) Glenn also brought two very large scapolite and diopside crystals sitting outside of the cases on a pedestal for people to touch.

The Franklin Mineral Museum also had several cases, with some exceptional minerals from Franklin and Sterling Hill, as well as some museum artifacts. The location of Franklin, New Jersey, is one of the most well-known mineral localities worldwide, and aside from the huge assortment of minerals found there, Franklin is also considered to be the world's premier fluorescent mineral locality. Aside from the regular exhibit, the Franklin Museum had a special fluorescent room. This will be further discussed in the next post.

 
Note: All these photos can be clicked for an enlarged pop-up.

Large Copper and Copper Minerals from the Bound Brook Area from Brad Plotkin's Display
  

Exceptional Prehnites from Brad's Display, including two rare blue Prehnites
 

Pectolite from Millington from Brad's Display
  

Brad's Exhibit on the Bergen Hill minerals, on the Palisades cliffs in New Jersey.
Specimens from this locality are classic material.

The Display Case of the Glenn Rhein Family of minerals in Amity, New York
 

Very large piece of Scapolite and Diopside brought by Glenn.
This was out on a table for people to be able to touch.
I apologize for this picture and the one above it for being a bit blurry.
 

A Display Case of the Franklin Mineral Museum
  

Zoom into some of the minerals in one of the Franklin cases.
Note the exceptional Rhodonite cluster on the top right.
  

Display of one of the Fossil Exhibits at the Show

This next report features the display of Steve Kuitems, Jim Chenard, & Fred Parker, who have one of the top collections of minerals from the Tilly Foster Mine in Brewster, New York. The Tilly Foster Mine was an old iron mine that produced a very large amount of ore. Mining ceased entirely in 1897 after a terrible accident where 13 miners were killed in a rockslide. All specimens from this mine are considered classic; modern specimens do not exist. This mine produced some of the finest titanite and chondronite in the United States, along with a host of rare serpentine minerals and odd pseudomorphs. It also produced some exceptional dodecahedral magnetite over the course of its operation.

Also featured in this post are some minerals from some other localites in the Northeast, specifically Connecticut and New Hampshire. Although the show theme was originally only New York and New Jersey minerals, some local collectors wanted to expand the exhibit to include other Northeast localities, so there were a few cases of material from other Northeastern states.

Note: All these photos can be clicked for an enlarged pop-up.

The exhibit case of Tilly Foster Minerals
 

Zoomed in on some Tilly Foster shelves
   

More Tilly Foster Minerals
 

More Tilly Foster Minerals, with an emphasis on Chondrodite
 

Collection of New York Minerals, Joe Polityka display
 

More Northeast Minerals
 

Minerals from the Northeast, including Branchville, Connecticut phosphates
  

More minerals from Connecticut, especially pegmatites, from Jeff Fast

Here is the next round of public display cases. Featured here are the amazing Herkimer Diamonds that were present at the show. Tom Kapelelewski is renowned for his outstanding Herkimer Diamond collection, considered to be one of the finest in the world. Tom had put together a dazzling display, replete with a crystal pool of crystals and a women statue dipping her toe into the crystal pool. What's even more amazing about this display is that Tom and his sons have self collected all the Herkimer Diamonds in this case over the 50+ years!

Also included in this post are some other fine New Jersey collections.

 
Note: All these photos can be clicked for an enlarged pop-up.

Tom Kapelelewski's dazzling Herkimer Diamond exhibit
 

Individual shelves in Tom's Herk exhibit

Women's statue in the Crystal pool of Small Herkimer Diamonds
 

Bodhivastu Foundation Collection of Herkimer Diamonds

Rutger's Geology Museum display of New Jersey Minerals
 

Collection of Alan Benson - New Jersey Trap Rocks
 

Jason Baskin display case of outstanding NJ Minerals.
On the bottom shelf are two huge Natrolite crystals - the largest I have ever seen!

Since there were so many display cases exhibits to photograph, I had to divide them into several sections, otherwise the post would be too long. The pictures here in part 4 of the show report are all from the collection of Hershel Friedman, founder of Minerals.net. Hershel's case focused on minerals of the suburbs of New York City in New York and New Jersey. The shelves in the exhibit were as follows:

• Paterson, New Jersey
• Prospect Park, New Jersey
• Misc New Jersey basalt deposits
• Misc New Jersey minerals
• Large New Jersey specimens
• Rare, lower New York State Minerals
• Large, lower New York State Minerals
• Pictures of old iron mines in the Ramapo Mountains/Hudson Highlands

 
Note: All these photos can be clicked for an enlarged pop-up.

Display case of Hershel Friedman.
This side of the case is the New Jersey Minerals.
 

Zoomed in to the middle top row, Prospect Park, NJ minerals.
Left to Right: A large Datolite, yellow Calcite, Prehnite Fingers
Large Apophyllite, Calcite on Anhydrite Cast, Agate, Anhydrite Cast
 

Minerals from Paterson, New Jersey, in the Hershel Friedman display
 

Minerals from classic NY localities on the bottom two shelves, and minerals from NJ on top shelf.
  

Minerals from misc NJ traprock locations, in Hershel Friedman's display.
 

Large NJ minerals in Hershel Friedman's display

This listing contains photos of the public exhibits. The public exhibits showcased the finest in minerals in New York and New Jersey, and was probably the largest public display of New York/New Jersey minerals ever assembled. Many people contributed towards this effort, and their involvement is much appreciated. Justin and Brandy Zzyzx get a special kudos for organizing such a challenging operation and ensuring everything went smoothly and professionally. The fossil displays were curated by fossil specialist Yinan Wang, who also did a nice job of putting these together.

The individual exhibitors included:

• Hershel Friedman: Minerals of the NYC Suburbs
• Dave Kords: Minerals of NY State
• The Staten Island Museum: Minerals of NY State and NYC
• Rutgers Geology Museum: Minerals of NJ
• Juan Gonzalez: Minerals of NJ
• Tom Kapelewski & Sons: Herkimer Diamonds from Middleville, NY
• Bodhivastu Foundation Collection: Herkimer Diamonds
• Alan Benson: Minerals from the NJ Trap Rocks
• Steve Kuitems, Jim Chenard, & Fred Parker: Minerals from the Tilly Foster Mine, NY
• Howard Heitner: Minerals from the Northeast USA
• Joseph Polityka: Minerals of NJ
• Jason Baskin: Minerals of the NJ Traprocks
• Terry Szenics: Minerals of the Northeast USA
• Bradley D. Plotkin: Bergen Hill, NJ Prehnites, Millington, & NJ Copper Minerals
• Jeff Fast: Field collected minerals from the Northeast USA
• Glenn Rhein & Family: Minerals from the Rhein Property, Amity, NY
• Franklin Mineral Musum: Minerals from Franklin and Sterling Hilll, NJ
• Fossil Cases organized by Yinan Wang

I had a very challenging experience photographing the exhibits. These display cases were very large, with multiple shelves in each display. This increased the depth scope, and under low lighting was difficult to get the entire spectrum clearly, even with the aid of a tripod. The displays also had transparent shelves and backgrounds, which further challenged my photography skills. I am not so happy about the quality of these photos, but they are still better than showing nothing, and they indeed still give a feeling towards the displays at the show and the show in general.

Note: All these photos can be clicked for an enlarged pop-up.

Crowds observing the display cases.
(No, I don't have an explanation as to why the woman has her foot on the man.)
 

The Display Case Format. There was a long row of cases in this format, with an aisle in between for people to walk through.
 

Shelf in the Staten Island Museum Display.
These are minerals from Southern New York State.
 

Another Shelf in the Staten Island Museum Display.
These are minerals from New York City.
 

Display Case from Dave Kords, American Hobby Shop.
Dave has an odd assortment of different NY mineral from all over the state.
 

Another shelf from the display case of Dave Kords
 

And another from Dave Kords
 

And One Last Shelf from Dave Kords, with a really strange stalactite growth on the left
 

I was at the NY-NJ Gem & Mineral show on both Friday and Sunday. On Saturday my fellow club members Juan Gonzalez and Rolf Schudel covered for me. Although Friday showed a nice amount of people, both Saturday and Sunday were surprisingly busy, and I was happy to have sold lots of my surplus NY/NJ material.

There was a special dinosaur exhibit with many dinosaur statues of different sizes on the show floor in their own designated area. I guess this is becoming a new theme at the shows; these types of dinosaurs were also roaming around the property of the InnSuites show in Tucson the last two years as well.

Here are some general scenes from around the show:

Large, people-size flyers promoting the show and their sister show in Denver

Mean looking dinosaur on the show floor.

People walking through the dinosaur section

Some taller dinosaurs and spectators enjoying them.

The Fine Minerals Section of the show, where the high-end dealers set-up and displayed their beautiful displays.

Busy Area at the show.
This area was wall-to-wall with people

Typical Floor Show Scene

Booth of Malachite & Gems of Africa

An enormous Quartz crystal mass with deep red Tourmaline
from the legendary Jonas Mine in Brazil.
This hunk was on the floor by Green Mountain Minerals,
and they allowed you to touch it.

Beautiful, sherry colored Topaz from a new find near Pikes Peak, Colorado.
At the display booth of Amanda Atkins, who has become a star
on the Weather Channel's new Prospector TV Series.

Very colorful display case at Stonetrust's booth in the Fine Mineral Gallery.
The large Fluorites are from Austria and show amazing color when backlit.