I first saw this unusual cubically crystallized cuprite crystal perched in its unusual quartz "cave" in the late 1990s when dealer Cal Graeber purchased it from the estate of collector Gerald Herfurth. I did not then have the money to buy all I wanted from his purchases. I always regretted not buying it then, as I had never seen a cuprite quite like this , and the aesthetics are just unique. I always remembered it and imagine my surprise when I saw it again recently! The cuprite (approx 1.1 x 0.9 cm) is sharp and interesting in form, and is perched nicely in what seems to have been a quartz filling of a cavity in between blocks of rock matrix, now removed. The quartz "pocket" itself is a floater, contacted and showing the pattern of the constraining matrix it grew between at the base and around the periphery. Where space allowed, the quartz crystallized into brilliant crystals of high lustre. Only one cuprite crystal seems to have nucleated within the pocket and, unlike others I have seen from this very same mine, it has a shape that is either truly cubic or pseudocubic. To be honest, the location of Shangulowe Mine has come down with the specimen but quartz is not reported from this mine, as I see it on MINDAT. Yet, quartz is also not reported from Mashamba West Mine, where so many of our cuprites come from. I believe this to simply be from a unique old mining claim or mine, probably an old vein in Shangulowe or a small dig nearby. The piece was sold by Graeber to Dr. Ed David, in whose collection it remained for nearly a decade before being exchanged into the collection of Larry Conklin, from whom I in turn obtained the specimen last year - about 10 years after seeing it for the first time! As a side note, the price now has been able to be the same price as it was then, due to teh various trades involved, and that I got it in a larger exchange I amortised, myself.  Joe Budd Photos

A gorgeous, intensely colored tourmaline showing many color zones. The 41-gram crystal is complete and perfect all around, 360 degrees. The lustre is superb, very glassy and bright. The color gradients are subtle and make it a very interesting piece, overall - This is a classic old style from the late 1980s that now comes up only as collections recycle. ex Andreas Graw collection. Joe Budd Photos

This fluorite crystal is transparent, colorful with subtle zonations, and RAZOR SHARP. The edges are to 4 cm in length, and you can cut your finger on them, they are so perfect. The crystal is completely transparent in person, and shows subtle cubic phantoms inside that are hard to capture with the camera. The piece is a complete floater, as the fluorite rests on a shard of quartz from which crystals pop out on either end of the plate to accent the fluorite. This is a superb specimen in every sense of its aesthetics, from the noted China collections of Steve Smale.. Joe Budd photos

Calcite from Verkhniy has come out for a decade or more now, in a bewildering variety of shapes and forms. This piece, though, always stood out to my eye as unusual. It is a complex intergrown twin with crystals seemingly forming an olde English-style heart twin at top and bottom, yet both attached to the same central crystal ! The piece is a complete floater, and is as pristine as you can rationally wish for.The end tips show a subtle, finely articulated complex network of veins running to a common termination at each end. From the well-known Eric Asselborn collection, sold to me for my own personal calcite collection in 2006 and kept since then . Joe Budd photos

An imposing, intensely red crystal of the variety once called "Siberite" by the European collecting nobility who sought after these on their Grand Tours through Russia in the 1800s. At 174 grams, this is a robust, very 3-dimensional, small-cab sized crystal. It is complete all around, 360 degrees. The side faces show a nice complexity, rather than the typical smooth, streamlined singles we are used to seeing. And lastly, the termination is the more uncommon prismatic (pointy) variety, rather than the more typical flat terminations. Joe Budd photos

This is one of several pieces which came out in about 1997 to a mineral show in St Marie, France. I have seen nothing of this calibre , since then. The piece has a brilliant lustre and robust crystals that are alpine style in lustre and sharpness - rarely seen from an iron mine, per se. It is complete all around, and is a superb and rare example of a Russian hematite that can hold its own on a worldwide basis. The lustre is superb and brilliant, more so in person as the photography lights are set to emphasize depth and form, rather than brilliant reflectivity that makes the faces look too glaring. This specimen meanwhile was in the collection of Bill Larson, of Fallbrook, CA. Joe Budd photos

In the mid 1990s, a virtual flood of these sharp, twinned calcites came out of this former Russian Republic and to market, many at very affordable prices. This one, however, stands above all of those and is one of the few best I know of. It is bigger, gemmier, cleaner, and just plain brighter and sparklier than the normal quality you might expect. The photos are accurate, not an exaggeration at all, and it really is this gemmy and sharp in person. I obtained this specimen in exchange from the noted Eric Asselborn collection (Dijon, France) in the early 2000's and kept it since then in my own calcite collection, which I started in 1985 and added to until only very recently. I know there is a swarm of cheaper, "nice" calcite twins out there from this locale. But again, this is so far beyond them, its not even the same planet in my eyes. I was proud to own this for the last 7 or 8 years and I still consider it one of the few best of this style that I know of, amongst the major collections (including several specializing in Russian material). Joe Budd photos

A rare example of this classic, turn-of-the-1900s era, pseudomorph in which malachite and azurite together formed a cast around selenite, which then dissolved out and left the crystals hollow. From the noted pseudomorph collection of dealer and collector, Ken Roberts. Joe Budd photos

Quite simply a MAJOR specimen of historic size and importance. This piece would have been mined in the mid to late 1800s, when specimens like this were highly prized and made their way into only the most prominent collections. It came to me as part of such a modern collection that was quietly dispersed, and has never been offered for public sale before. The piece recently toured the world as part of the GOLD! EXHIBITION organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The exhibit was in Tokyo, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, and Houston Museums among others, from 2006-2011. Joe Budd photos

This rare arborescent habit of crystallization was found in only one pocket at Broken Hill, and specimens are quite uncommon. This is an elegant, branching example of large crystals for the species. Formerly in the collection of Dr. Ed David. I was later told that these were found in the 1960s on the 18th level of the mine, and that they are now considered to be pseudomorphs after the worlds largest rammelsbergite crystals (see Rock Currier's MINDAT forum on "best minerals - Alabandite" for more info including a photo of another piece from this notable pocket). Joe Budd photos

An oldtime Japanese specimen from the collection of the American Museum. The piece has brilliantly lustrous sphalerites of several crystal forms, perched on contrasting white quartz matrix. Some crystals are translucent. It was labeled "Echigo" which is an old name for Niigata Prefecture, today. This probably came out at the same time as some well-known sphalerites from the Burrage collection, also labelled "Echigo " or "Yechigo" on the contemporary labels from that period (and shown on MINDAT now). No telling which mine for sure, but the region seems to have produced good sulfides in the 1800s. This specimen was formerly in the AMNH collection and , most recently, in the Conklin collection.. Joe Budd photos

Carletonite usually only occurs as either loose crystals or massive cleavages and masses. This specimen features gem bue crystals of top, intense color, perched for display on a natural pedestal of only slightly more common, massive carletonite. Relatively few specimens such as this have been found over the years here, and this locale produces not just best of species, but the ONLY examples of the species! Again, large, display quality, showy pieces seem to have been extremely rare, and I'm really happy to have had this one to offer. It is the best matrix piece I have had since the dispersal of the rest of this pocket in the 1990s. I am sure this is from the same pocket brought to the Tucson show by Gilles Haineult at that time, I want to say 1998-1999 range. Joe Budd photos