A fine miniature from the 1990s production here, and out of the noted collection of Dr. Ed David (former Nixon science advisor). The main crystal is actually doubly-terminated, and floats in the matrix perfectly situated for contrast by the preparator who worked it out. the crystal is sharp, textbook in form; and has an intense red color and classic waxy luster. It has one very clean repair in the middle, considered acceptable to me in a ruby of this size and quality, as it had to be worked out of the matrix to display as nicely as it does. Note the shocking fluorescence under ultraviolet light, as a bonus. Joe Budd Photos.

This is a superb heliodor with outstanding color , luster, and sharp terminations. Although many have come from this old topaz mine, this piece would rank highly. It masses 290 grams, much of which is cuttable for gem rough - and it can be treated into aquamarine by the gem cutters to further enhance its intrinsic value. Aside from the obvious beauty of this intensely colored, sparkly, gem crystal, there are more subtle attributes. Few of the heliodors from this mine are produced with such elegant form, just the right amount of etching to the surface to give character but not too much to detract, and with such intense gemminess and transparency. The extremely sharp, tapered nature of the termination here gives the piece an extra few points for rarity, amongst its crowd of fellow heliodors. Most terminations on these are rather rounded, or lumpy. This is so sharp you can cut yourself on it (literally!). Large heliodors of this quality have proven extremely rare on the market in the last few years, and are hard to replace (this is one of only two examples of high calibre I have been able to buy in the last 2 years). Joe Budd Photos.

A very large, textbook-shaped garnet crystal from the famous old Salida area. This crystal is complete all around and weighs an astonishing 2 pounds and 9 ounces, or 1162 grams! Old, rare in this size. Joe Budd Photos.

Here you have a dramatic, large, 3-dimensional specimen from a very rare and old find. It looks good from ANY angle and to be honest, I cannot decide which "front" i like better. It is good horizontal, sitting flat; or standing up vertical. The balls of crystals are also VERY large for the material, reminding me well of the famous Pellman specimen from this pocket. The gossan matrix is completely smothered by sparkling balls of botryoidal mimetite. The color is almost a saturated yellow, nearly the best you can get for the locality and considered more desirable than orange-yellow hues. It is brilliantly sparkling in light, and colorful and complete all around 360 degrees. As a bonus, there are little sparkly calcites perched here and there atop the mimetite balls - a very rare association for the pocket and one I have seen only a very few times before. ALL such mimetites as this were collected in a single large find in end of 1968 and start of 1969 by Benny Fenn (right before the Tucson show of that year!), from a one-time pocket at a small prospect. It was literally a small prospect, not even a developing mine, and it never panned out or produced more specimens again. Despite attempts to find another mimetite pocket, no more ever came out. These remain unique in the world for their overall aspect; and large, colorful pieces like this are treasured by those who have them. No other locality has produced mimetite of such aspect to this day. Even at the time, this would have been considered exceptional for its size and all-around aesthetics. Again, from my perspective, the color grade on this is particularly high, making it a choice specimen even among those of us who have seen many over the years. As a bonus, this piece has the history all the way back to when it came out, going through three collections - in reverse order being: Larry Conklin, the late John Marshall, and Karl Vossbrink. Offered now for the first time in over a decade. Joe Budd photos.

An unusual locality piece, of robust, steeply terminated rhodochrosite crystals together in a solid cluster that is complete all around. This is from a very old mine, one assumes - and it is not listed on Mindat. The old label though, clearly seems to be certain on a mine. There were MANY mines in this famous old district, and it is quite possible that this one simply has not previously been reported for major rhodochrosites, likely found in the early 1900s and certainly not in recent years. From the Dennis Mullane collection, built in the 1950s-1970s primarily. Joe Budd Photos.

Few San Diego kunzites reach the combination of color and form that we now see from Afghani material. However, when they do so, they should be viewed as much more rare, and historically have been valued much higher. This particular specimen can hold its own with any modern Afghani piece, with which there are only subtle differences in composition. It is a doubly-terminated crystal of intense hot pink color, with great lustre and glassiness. The piece was found in the 1950's by San Diego collector George Ashley, and ended up in the Bill Larson collection. By the time of the American Treasures exhibition in Tucson (2008), the piece was in the noted california collection of Jesse Fisher and Joan Kureczka. It was exhibited in the Pala District case at that once-in-a-lifetime exhibition honoring America's mineral treasures, and comes with the commemorative display label. At 258 grams, it is hefty and a fair cabinet sized specimen. Joe Budd Photos. FEATURED IN THE AMT CASE AT TUCSON 2008 SHOW and ILLUSTRATED IN MINERALOGICAL RECORD COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

A very aesthetic and unusual specimen from this classic mine, with a thick coating of sparkling white quartz over large fluorite octohedra. THEN, LATER in the history of this pocket, more fluorite was deposited on top of the quartz layer, making for little lavender tufts of fluorite poking out like mushrooms from the sharper quartz crystals underneath. I have not previously had such a good example of this multiple-generation material from the mine, nor seen one so aesthetic and balanced, as this piece. Ex Karl Faddis Collection (a Seattle-area native collector) - he specialized in minerals of the Northwest USA and British Columbia. Joe Budd Photos.