2025 Sainte Marie Aux Mines Report
For those who have asked about what this years Sainte Marie show is like here are my observations from this years show. The show is undergoing some pretty drastic changes. Dealers who have participated in this show for decades have dropped this year. I believe this is mainly due to new enforcement of rules regarding cash payments, VAT, and employees.
French mineral dealers have always been notoriously particular about being paid in cash. However France has passed laws the the maximum allowable cash payment is restricted to 1,000 Euro. Rumors were flying about government workers posing undercover trying to convince dealers to take cash in excess of that value to catch them in the act. This contributed to generally putting a damper on a normally very positive show.
Additionally the organizers were questioning questioning anyone working in the booths, demanding to see passports etc. The purpose was to determine if they were legally employed by the business etc. This is quite a tricky issue when so many dealers are international or may be informally collaborating etc.
I had several dealers state that after the way they were treated by the French authorities they would never sell at the show again. This was after attempting to check every requirement and do everything properly as they were told. Sadly I see this leading to a drastic decline in international dealers wanting to sell at this show. Further complications for dealers based in the USA such as myself include paying tariffs on importing our material into the USA from the show. At this time it is set at 10% but there remains uncertainty about this rate changing at any moment.
But enough about the woes of being a mineral dealer ;). At the end of the day I am happy I went this year. I got some excellent and unique specimens. I saw many good friends and enjoyed some excellent French cuisine. Hopefully all these import export and tax issues can be sorted in the future. Below I have a gallery of images of some standout displays from this years show for those who could not make it. There are simply too many excellent specimens to post but these are some real standouts.
Denver Show Wrap Up 2023
Just Minerals and Crystals
Just Minerals and Crystals was a huge success this year I could not believe the number of people in attendance! It very much reminded me of the lines we would see years past at the Tucson Elks lodge. We will keep the show venue at the Denver Marriott Hotel moving forward. We think it is a great venue due to its proximity to the Crowne Plaza. If you missed this event this year we hope to see you there in 2024!
Denver Hardrock
Thank you to everyone who came out to visit the booth at the Hardrock this year. Although Dan Z Rockshop had a great year, I know that there were many complaints by customers about parking, traffic, etc, etc. Well the Hardrock and the board of the Denver Gem and Mineral Show have listened. We are moving the show for 2024 to the Westinn Westminster Hotel. This venue will feature free parking and is much easier to navigate. I hope to see you next year at the Westinn if you will be coming to Denver for the shows.
Website
There have been a few updates to the inventory on Dan Z Rockshop. I have recently added some books and a set of Mineralogical Record Magazines. On the mineral side I have added some nice gem pegmatite minerals, some Tsumeb minerals, etc. After the joint open house I will begin uploading the Blain Bard Tsumeb collection to the website so keep an eye out. Additionally I will have a number of high quality autunite on smoky quartz specimens from China, michigan coppers, cerussites from Iran, Idaho aquamarines, La Barre fluorites, Auglaize fluorites, clay center fluorites, illinois fluorites, and many other worldwide classics. I simply have so much inventory at the moment I simply don’t have time to upload all of it to the website. If you are looking for something in particular please email me at dan@danzrockhsop.com or DM me on instagram.
Denver Gem and Mineral Show 2022
Thank you everyone for a successful 2022 Denver Gem and Mineral Show! I had a blast doing my favorite home town show and getting to see many friends that travel from far away to attend this wonderful mineral show at our new location in Downtown Denver. A photo of the Danzrockshop booth is below. I do have to say in spite of hiccups that have have been involved in switching venues, such as not being able to hold the show on the regular weekend this year, the new venue is far more refined than the old Denver Mart.
This year brought many changes including me participating in a new show Just Minerals And Crystals at the Summit Event Center in Aurora that is located a short drive from the Crowne Plaza show. This is the newest location for Danzrockshop and it is where I took a large amount of keystone material. I plan on adding this show to my permeant show schedule so look me up at Denver Just Minerals and Crystals in 2023!
Besides seeing friends the highlight for me were the displays at the Hardrock / DGMS show. The DGMS section upstairs featured the “Collecting Colorado” theme. The Dorris family case, Dave Bunks case, MAD case and others were simply outstanding. I have included some pictures of the eye candy below.
Additionally downstairs at the Hardrock section there were some stunning golds on display including some world class singles such as the Dragon, Ausrox Nugget, the Crystal, the Rams Horn, Dragons lair and others. Along with these the fabulous gold collection assembled by Wayne and Donna Leicht was on display. The gold dispaly was simply astounding, even though I have seen several pieces in person before seeing so many world class specimens in one cohesive display was breathtaking.
Overall the new location at the Denver Convention Center is in my opinion fantastic. Many people complain about parking however that should drastically improve once the attached parking garage construction is finished. There is no longer the smell of dogfood permeating the air like the Denver Mart location, and there are quality restaurants and hotels in the area.
From a collector perspective in my personal opinion this is the best show in Denver and one of the best in the country if you are looking for a quality specimen for your collection. While some of the prices downstairs in the Hardrock section can be eyewatering (POR or simply not even labeled lol) there are still some deals to be found especially in the DGMS section upstairs. The show could drastically benefit from more mid-tier dealers that have collector quality specimens in the $50 to low thousand range making more of a selection available for collectors with middle class income. However this is an issue that is not simply confined to the Denver show, but the collecting community in general.
From a dealer perspective there needs to be some work done to improve the show. Advertising and signage are lacking around town which is a shame because this is the second most expensive mineral show in the country. The weekend really needs to stay consistent and avoid jumping around to avoid interfering with other shows in Denver. Overall needs to be a real drive from the Hardrock team to attract more customers to the show. If this fails to happen considering the very high booth fees, dealers will begin to reconsider the risk reward benefit of spending such large amounts of money to do the show.
Overall I have very high hopes for this show. I think each year has been an improvement over the last.
Denver Gem and Mineral Guild Show 2022
Thanks everyone for a successful and well attended DGMG show at the Jefferson county fairgrounds this past weekend. We had over 3000 people attend our clubs local show!! Everything from serious mineral collectors around the greater Denver area, to families that turned up to their first mineral show. Club shows to me are the heart and soul of the mineral collecting community, they expose a large number of the general public to the hobby of mineral collecting, lapidary, and other mineral related hobbies. The guild had a number of club cases and individual cases on display. Sadly I did not get a large amount of time to look at the cases but most noticeable were the tribute case to the late Jane Dianich put in by her husband Pete Modreski, Ron Snellings fantasy facet case, and a wonderful Colorado meteorite. This was a great return of the club show since the cancellation of last years 2021 show due to covid. I hope that this increase in numbers will hold for the next several years and will perhaps provide an increase in membership to the local clubs which are in a dire need of young members to get involved in the hobby especially those in the 20-50 year old range. If you are interested in joining the Denver Gem and Mineral Guild please go to https://denvergem.org/join-us/.
I also wanted to take a second to recognize the loss of Ron Anderson who was a fixture at the DGMG show for many years. I remember buying some great valued specimens from him when I was in grad school and had quite the limited budget. I clearly remember his booth because it was the first time in my life that I ever saw a N'Chwaning Rhodo in person. I simply couldn’t believe the prices. He laughed kindly and took the time to explain why the specimens were so sought after by collectors around the world.
