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Munich Show 2012 I don't care what show I go to there are going to be lots of people I know and I enjoy the time spent talking and catching up with them since the last show. The atmosphere of the Munich Show is unparalleled for such activities. Many dealers and promoters throw small parties during the show to have people come and enjoy a glass of wine and sample the foods from their local areas. It really is just a fantastic time that makes the Munich Show my favorite show during the year. This year there were more people from the USA than ever before. For many it was their first time and they are now struck with the ambience of this show so I am certain to see more of them in the years ahead. Unfortunately for many folks from the USA their trip here will be extended a day two due to hurricane Sandy. Hundreds of flights were canceled to and tomorrow because of this storm. I am planning to leave Wednesday and will fly to Frankfurt first and then direct to San Francisco over the pole so I will miss the action there on the east coast.
At the end of each day there was a gathering in the booth of Laurent Thomas to enjoy French, wine, cheese, salami and bread.
The theme this year at the Munich Show was minerals from Africa. Africa is a huge land mass and there likely hundreds of thousands of mineral localities from this continent so a lot of people were anxious to see what tireless efforts of many people would be able to produce in terms of displays. I always wait until the last day to see the displays since that gives me something to look forward to. Well, no dissapointment here. The minerals on display were simply staggering. There were African localities missing from this display but so what ?!?! What was there was simply a joy to look at. There is no way I could capture all of the specimens on display but I did get some of the highlights which will be seen below.
Tsumeb was of course well represented in the displays with hundreds of incredible pieces. Jim Houran organized a stunnig display of thumbnail sized specimens - many from Tsumeb - that I did not get any photos of but the pieces in that display were amazing!
Everyone was talking about the snow here in Munich. I live in an area of California the gets a lot of snow in the winter time so ... Anyway it made for some interesting shots in the dinosaur models on display
As I said earlier there is not much to talk about that was new to
the mineral world. I feel very fortunate to have gotten in on the
Azurites from Kimbwe' and I owe a debt of thanks to Valere Berlage for his
help in this. I will be able to offer them at a reasonable price
once I get home in a couple days.
There are a huge number of specimens coming from the Huanggang mine
in Inner Mongolia China and elsewhere in China for that matter. The
quality is ok but I am hearing that the best material is not leaving China
anymore. This is due to the explosive growth in the number of mineral collectors in
China. Christophe Gobin told me that on a trip 2 weeks ago to China he was
unable to find anything affordable for resale. This is significant coming
from Chris. Bert and several other dealers mentioned the same thing. Any
pieces that make it to the western markets are fully valued. Even
specimens with Chinese dealers here in Munich were expensive regardless of
what they were or where they were from. Considering that China's
population exceeds that of Europe and the US combined there could be a new
paradigm emerging in the mineral world that will see prices go even higher
than anyone ever imagined - especially me. For one thing Chinese people
are not allowed to put money in to real estate speculation so the rapidly
expanding middle class of China is looking to put money into things that
they can purchase and collectibles, such as minerals, seem to be the
choice of most.
What will it all mean? It is hard to say but as far as I can tell
to my dismay prices for quality minerals are about to board a rocket and
never come back down. Then again, I have maintained that there was a
bubble developing for the past 5-7 years and the bubble seems to not be a
bubble afterall. It was only 10 years ago that you could have
bought a troy ounce of gold for $350.00. Ten years later it costs
$1,725.00. The prices probably say more about our fiat currencies
than they do about a bubble.
Well this will wrap up another Munich experience for me. I
encourage all readers to make at least one trip to this fantastic mineral
show. Tucson may be larger and scattered across creation but there is
nothing to compare with four emormous, adjacent jet airplane-sized hangers
filled from edge to edge with minerals, gemstone and fossils. There is no
way to adequately convey to you the enormity of this show and there is no
chance to hope to see everything here. It is just too big! And the desire
to stop and visit with friends is a bit to tempting so... a lot goes by
the wayside...
I want to extend my thanks to Chris and
Johannes Keilmann for their generous hospitality and tremendous effort
to organize a show like this. Thanks for checking in while I was
here in Munich. Auf Wiedersehn,
John
PLEASE NOTE: The minerals that were offered on these pages are all sold
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