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We're talking about the best quality minerals and fossils from the world over can be found at these five shows! PRICED ACCORDINGLY. . . but deals can be found! Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show, Tucson, AZ Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show 2007 Dealer List
These are the true, big time, mineral and fossil shows here in Tucson. If your looking for museum quality display specimens, the AMFS shows are the ones to visit. If your looking for the biggest ban for your buck, these are not necessarily the best places to look. As a general rule: If you see it in an expensive motel room at an expensive hotel show, the prices are inflated to cover the extra overhead. If you see the same quality of specimen at a warehouse or tent show, you will get a lot more for less money. That said, if your willing to buy in LARGE quantities, you may be able to get an excellent buy even at a hotel show. And finally, if you wait till the last day of a particular show, you can get great deals because most dealers DO NOT want to have to carry a lot of heavy specimens back home. The problem with waiting till the very last day is that you will not have the best selection of material or may have missed out completely on the specimens that you waited to buy. So, it all boils down to knowing where to go to get the best deals and skipping everything else till you have most of your shopping done! (I wish I could follow my own advice!) The Clarion Hotel show consisted of a majority of the old Executive Inn dealers. Most were not at all happy with being moved to this hotel [2005] with it's confusing maze of hallways and extra distance from I-10 exits. In 2006, some of these unhappy dealers moved back to the E.i.(Executive Inn). Buyer participation is still not up to par with the number of buyers that are still going back to the E.I. Also, parking is somewhat difficult (tight) at this venue. [2007 Update] The place is almost a ghost town with only the ballroom and the front half of the hotel occupied with vendors. All the dealers in the ballroom have small yellow fliers stating that they will be located in the ballroom at the InnSuites in 2008. The ballroom was made available next year because Howard Schlansker will be moving into his brand new 12,500 sq. ft. 1820 Oracle Warehouse. JUMPING SHIP . . .and rumors abound. The 2007 Tucson show brings with it the realization that a still larger number of dealers at the Clarion have decided to move over to the InnSuites to be in the middle of the action instead of on the confusing edge of it. They have made this move in the face of being stuck up on the second floors of InnSuites. I do think that these moves will go a long way in solving the dilemma that most dealers had faced in the past couple of years up on the second floor - lack of traffic. NOW there is a reason to climb the stairs, if you have an enough energy remaining after visiting all the rooms on the first floors. It is amazing how the InnSuites has fast become the premiere AMFS show to be in. Unfortunately, now the buyers and vendors have a problem finding adequate parking around InnSuites. I understand that Marty has rented land for the vendors to store their larger trailers and trucks on but parking is still becoming a major problem. Rumor has it that Marty Zinn will be abandoning the Clarion next year (for sure) in favor of his new Quality Inn show on Benson Hwy. and the InnSuites. There is a question whether the owners of the Clarion will be selling out later this year (they had also owned the Smugglers Inn which was sold last year) and leaving Marty to find other digs. He may also try to expand into an entirely new motel show along the I-10 strip in Tucson. These moves will be welcomed by all of the buyers as well as dealers who have to fight Tucson traffic moving from one show to the next. |
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[2005]
 THE CLARION HOTEL Show |
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| Mountain Gems and
Minerals Terry Ledford P.O. Box 239 Little Switzerland, NC 28749 828-765-9506 Fax 828-765-0558 |
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[2006]
[MOVED TO THE INNSUITES IN 2007]
 Terry Ledford of Mountain Gems and
Minerals, Little Switzerland, NC had all new amethyst material from a second property that he owns near Jackson's
Crossroads, Wilkes County, GA. Last year's amethyst came from an
adjacent location owned jointly with Rodney Moore of Dixie Euhedrals
out of Jackson, GA.
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[2006]
 The cut stones of this new find were of much better color and gem quality! |
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[2006]
 Here we put a small flash light behind this big crystal to try and show this crystal's range of color. |
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[2006]
 Terry had some of the new amethyst cut into jewelry. |
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[2006]
 Out in the daylight, the color range was not to be believed. As you move the cut stone, the color changed from deep purple to lighter purple with pinkish highlights. |
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[2006]
 Here you can see the dust on the display case glass. |
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[2005 Picture]
 In 2005, Terry Ledford of Mountain Gems and
Minerals, Little Switzerland, NC and Rodney Moore of Dixie Euhedrals out of Jackson, GA. had some
great amethyst from Jackson's Crossroads, Wilkes County, GA. for
sale.
This is an old mineral location that has been recently dug with a big
trackhoe.
Witness the results. . .
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[2005]
 2005 Amethyst material. . . |
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[2005]
 Terry
Ledford, at one time, was part owner of the old Crabtree mine outside of Spruce Pine, NC.
Here
is the best emerald matrix specimen that Terry ever retrieved from his
mine.
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| OTHER DEALERS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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[2005]
 Typical very large specimens from India. |
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[2005]
 Center specimen in the picture above. . . |
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[2005]
 Hematite after Magnetite from Argentina |
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[2005]
 I wonder how much hematite is replacing the magnetite? Pricey. . . In 2006, this dealer had less of this material and a lot more agates from Argentina |
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[2005]
 This dealer had old mineral books, mining memorabilia, AND mineral specimens. . . |
