Look for the premiere of much of this material

in our showroom

at the Houston Fine Mineral Show on April 30th !

We will literally be unpacking the collection at the show!

Legrandite is the Holy Grail of collecting rare species, for many people. Few large matrix specimens exist to be had, and of them, nearly all are in museums or private collections that are not selling anytime soon, now. This dramatic cluster hangs off the matrix, fully exposed and perched on contrasting gossan matrix. It looks good either side up and sideways, too! The cluster is 3.5 cm across. Individual crystals longwise are to 3 cm. These are very large for a matrix legrandite, only rarely surpassed in but a few known specimens for size. This legrandite was in the DeSautels winning case in 1999 (Irv Brown collection of small cab sized specimens), trimmed down from a larger specimen. Because of the color, style, and matrix of the piece, I am fairly certain it came out in the large pocket of 1977 which went through dealer John Whitmire, a specialist in Mapimi. Other legrandite pockets were found, but generally with smaller crystals and a different crystal habit. Few are on the market, or ever will be. This has been locked up in the Stoudt collection since 2004. Joe Budd photos.

This is an old piece from the extensive collection of geologist Jean Behier, the "founding father" of modern Madagascar's georesources policies and a well known French collector. It came to market and drifted quickly into the Stoudt collection through dealers Alain Martaud and Dave Bunk, where I was stunned when I first saw it some years ago. I had no idea that Mexican cinnabar got so good! These sharp, gemmy crystals (some twinned) are cherry red and perched on contrasting white calcite matrix. You would think they were Chinese, but for the history and some subtle differences in matrix. I have never seen such large and gemmy cinnabars from any North American locale, though you see tiny ones from a few places (Texas, Alaska...rarely). The piece, as befitting its inclusion in this major display collection, is ALSO large and showy, as well as important. I value it highly, in part bsaed on what I paid for it and in part because it is just so obviously frigging important! When one considers how much even mediocre China cinnabar costs, here you have something that has to rank among the best of the species from Mexico, for a fraction of China prices. It seems crazy, how undervalued some Mexican specimens can be. Joe Budd photos.

This is a rare specimen not of acanthite after argentite, but of Acanthite pseudomorph after Pyrargyrite. Think about it and you will realize, this is not often seen! It was a very old piece that was in the famous pseudomorph collection of Ed Swoboda by the 1970s, I was told (by Ed himself who is now in his mid-90s, though he cannot recall where he got it). It is complete all around, and very 3-dimensional. It is good all around, 360 degrees. It has robust structure and interesting form. I have not seen another such piece, myself. When Ed Swoboda sold his pseudomorph collection in the late 1990s, this went to Jim Minette and Carter Rich. They in turn sold it to Dr. Ed David. I obtained it from Ed in a deal in December of 2001, and sold it to Dave Stoudt within days - where it has remained since. ex. Ed David, Ed Swoboda collections. Joe Budd photos.

This is a very old piece that comes with an invoice showing that Boydston purchased it in 1959. It is a pastel robins-egg blue color, but not pale by any stretch. The color is similar to Kelly Mine, but distinct to my eye. The specimen is really aesthetic, for the contrasting rolling hillocks of smithsonite and the shadows between. The display face is remarkably pristine, and complete. The smithsonite is thick and heavy, not just the usual thin coating from here. ex Don Boydston Collection (Don passed away some time ago and his collection was sold to cover a debt to his painting framer.That worthy quickly realized its value and sold the collection, intact with all its treasures mostly from the 1950s-1970s, to a mineral dealer in about 2004 or so). A very rare, historic smithsonite of a type I had not seen from this mine.. Joe Budd photos.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, now famous finds of beautiful green ludlamites were found here. Some of those pockets, a few, had vivianite. Most of the crystals were cruddy, but in March 1994, this spectacular , elongated, complete crystal was produced. I am told that it is one of the best single vivianites recovered from Mexico (as Barlow writes in his book), and certainly I have seen nothing even close to it for sale. It is extremely gemmy and remains so, 20 years after being mined. The crystal has a strange, melted look that is quite unlike any vivianites I have seen but very oddly similar to the melted look of some galenas from this district. Formerly in the John Barlow Collection (illustrated in his book from 1998, on page 340), it was sold off in 1998 along with the rest of the collection and quickly nabbed by Arizona/Mexico collector Evan Jones. Evan sold the Mexico suite to concentrate on Arizona, and at that time I purchased this piece for the Stoudt collection.. Joe Budd photos.

A beautiful, very gemmy, doubly-terminated, pastel blue aquamarine crystal from an unusual locality. A floater, it is complete all around! Dave Stoudt obtained these while working as a geologist in Argentina in the early 2000's. This pinched, bullet-shaped piece is super gemmy and looks like a Jacqueto aqua from Brazil. Other than a very few specimens elsewhere, I have not seen any reach our markets for specimens. And the pieces brought out here, are some of the very best that were obtained by him at the time. 13 grams. Joe Budd photos.

Purple adamites, once thought to be cobaltian but now known to be manganese-rich, are one of the rarest and most desirable of the sexy Ojuela Mine rarities. They simply blow away other adamites, in my opinion, and are the rarest style to own. Only a relatively few came out, several flats of good material with larger crystals in 1982; and then lesser finds over the years since. This is from the 1982 find with its characteristic white "roots" and lustrous, broad purple terminations. The tips are glassy and GEMMY. The whole lot was brought out by John Whitmire at the time and literally vaporised from his Tucson sales room on opening day. The adamite spray is very 3-Dimensional, has crystals all around like a flower, and displays wonderfully from ANY angle. The cluster is about 4.5 cm across, with individual crystals to 2.5 cm (one inch!). No damage. This is a solid small cabinet piece with attractive, unusually bubbly gossan matrix. Joe Budd photos. Reference: see also Gem & Crystal Treasures pp 128-131, Romero Book , and Mineralogical Record's Ojuela issue