This year as usual, the show was held in the vast Messegelände exhibition centre just east of Munich. It was the show's 40th anniversary, and the occasion certainly proved a draw for the larger than normal crowd of dealers from around the world. The exhibition theme was Trilobites and Tourmalines, each being represented by a dedicated museum-style display near the main entrance.

The trilobite exhibit was outstanding, showing the evolution and diversity of these remarkable creatures. A 3 by 4m sandstone pavement studded with fossil remains was the centre piece of the collection. Claimed as one of the largest such beds ever discovered the assertion was definitely not an exaggeration. We had certainly never seen a larger or more impressive one in all the many years of our travels.

The Tourmaline theme focussed mostly on polished slices, showing the wonderful diversity of shapes and colours often hidden within the interior of these crystals. The majority on display were illuminated from below, bringing the beauty and appeal of these zoned formations to the full.

As with last year, the show was spread out over three halls, filled to capacity by dealer booths and tables. There seemed to be a general trend for hall A4 to contain merchants of beads, carvings and jewellery components. Several large wholesalers were present here, one of which had a particularly fine display of animal carvings. Other dealers provided vast numbers of various beads including red corals, polished rock from the USA, and several East European stands displaying large quantities of multicoloured amber. Three or four Australian opal dealers were also present, selling mostly cut and polished stones, but also rough material to faceters and lapidiarists. We stumbled across a beautiful opal lens, which we acquired almost without hesitation.

The Main Entrance to the Munich Exhibition Centre	Hall A5 - The Main Mineral Dealer Exhibition

Hall A5 was the main venue for quality specimen dealers from Europe, as well as a small contingent from the USA. As one would expect, a large number of dealers were from Germany, but the Italians and French were also present in number. British representatives were limited just to three, and we spotted a couple each from Namibia, South Africa and Hungary.

Besides mineral specimens, a number of quality jewellery dealers were lined against one side, selling particularly fine finished items containing cut stones, rings and necklaces. Many were outstandingly beautiful, particularly one we saw containing a whole chain of cut dark-blue Tanzanites.

The hall's exhibitor list was completed by three booksellers displaying large numbers of antiquarian mineralogy and geology volumes, mostly in German, and a couple of stands promoting subscriptions to well-known mineralogical journals including Lapis and the Mineralogical Record.

The last hall, A6, was home to an eclectic group of dealers mostly from outside Germany selling minerals of more ordinary quality. Five nationalities seemed to dominate here, merchants from China, India, Pakistan, Russia and Morocco. Most of the dealers form each country seemed to have almost identical minerals for sale as others in the group, and between them in vast quantities.

Tourmaline Slices - Stunning Colours and Zoned Patterns	The Trilobite theme run throughout the show

The Russians were mainly selling Uvarovite, large numbers of Siberian meteorites and various colourful phyllosilicates largely from the Kola Peninsula. Fluorite from Dalnegorsk was also prominent on some stalls. The Chinese tables groaned under the weight of bottle-green Fluorites from Hunan, accompanied by many magnificent Scheelites from Yao-gan-xian, Spessartine Garnets from Zhangzhou, Barite from Szechuan and Calcite covered Hematites. Most specimens on offer were of large cabinet size and above.

The Moroccans were, as usual, displaying large numbers of Vanadinites from Mibladen and Erythrites from Bou Azzer, many of the latter associated with milky Quartz, producing a very attractive combination of deep red on white. Dealers from Pakistan were selling many of the crystal clear blue Aquamarines in Biotie mica from the Shigar Valley and multicoloured Tourmalines from Afghanistan. Also prominent were displays of green and colourless quartzes from Himchal Pradesh in the Himalayas.

Lastly, the numerous Indian dealers had brought almost every conceivable combination of Zeolites from the famous quarries around Poona, ranging from pale green Apophyllite clusters, through large orange Stilbites, to intensely blue rosettes of Cavansite and Pentagonite.

A display selling stunning Malachites from Congo also caught our attention here, run by two African guys wearing green tracksuits matching the bright material on their table. Nearby was a table run by a German family specialising in Australian Crocoites from Dundas in Tasmania. Some were outstanding specimens, several containing flat bladed crystals up to 6cm in length.

Otherwise the centre of the hall was occupied by a large show-case display of local collectors' specimens, largely arranged in themes, such as the minerals from Harz or Erzebirge districts, individual mineral species such as Calcite and lovely miniature displays of mineralogists' workshops, akin to British Spa-Boxes. We had not seen these before and were immediately struck by the skill and attention to detail given them by their creators. After tracking Günter Muller, one of the creators, we were told that on average it took 6 months to create a display from start to finish, and that's without the time to find attractive micro-specimens to line the little shelves. Well worth the hard work and effort in our opinion.

Many Trilobites on Show	The Main Worldwide Dealer Hall

Having dwelled for several hours in Hall A6, we now returned to the central hall, home to the dealers of high quality specimens. We wanted to see what new material had come to market in recent months. After last year's disappointment, when relatively few new finds had appeared, we were in for a pleasant surprise. Many of the exhibitors had at least one recent discovery.

Starting with Fabre Minerals, our attention immediately fell on a number of stunning blue Spanish Fluorites from La Collada. These were found in May this year in a large pocket lined with many clusters of the mineral. However only a few proved of collector quality and are characterised by their highly modified corners.

Next, we came across a display of Pezzottaite, a newly approved mineral from Madagascar. Although initially thought of as a new variety of Beryl, the rich Cesium content of the species justified a separate classification. The mineral occurs as spectacular rasberry-red crystals found in weathered pegmatites near the village of Ambatovita. Unfortunately the weathering means that much of the original deposits and mineral have been lost. The surviving crystals are rarely found on matrix and most have tabular form. The find has been developed by the French dealer Laurent Thomas who was very keen to show visitors round. Although some of the rough material is finding its way onto the collectors' market, the majority of quality specimens are expected to end up faceted in various items of jewellery.

Interestingly, Madagascar appears to be a major source of many new finds presently, several other minerals including Kunzite, Tourmaline, Amazonite, Orthoclase and Lepidolite finding their way onto the market.

Another African location from where new specimens have recently originated include Erongo in Namibia and Karoi in Zimbabwe. Although neither is producing new mineral species, both locations nevertheless have reopened after many years of inactivity, Erongo once more giving up wonderful specimens of dark green Fluorites and Karoi yielding fantastic specimens of electric-blue Euclase.

The Centrepiece of the Trilobite Display	Lots of Mineral Displays Like this can be seen at the Show

Outside of Africa, two other regions were well represented at the show for new mineral discoveries. The Jalgoan quarry near Nasik, India has recently produced some wonderful specimens of Calcite. Many of the crystals are almost octahedral in shape and some are up to 10cms in size. Several of the Indian dealers were offering these in addition to the continued stream of very attractive zeolites.

The other key area for new discoveries was South America. Several honey coloured Topaz specimens had found their way to the show from Brazil as well as a recent discovery of Tourmalines from Minas Gerais. The largest of these Topaz crystals has been cut into a gemstone, and was on display. Its size was an incredible 40cm! Chile was represented by the discovery of a newly approved Copper Magnesium Hydroxy Arsenate, Guanacoite, from the Guanaco Mine in the classic copper bearing location of Antofagasta in the Atacama Desert.

Amongst other minerals, not all were new finds, but some were making a welcome comeback including Chinese Realgar from Chimen and Dioptase from Tsumeb in Namibia. The former has reappeared after the initial site was more or less worked out and it is great to see stunning blood-red prismatic crystals of the Realgar once more, and of similar quality to the initial discovery. The Dioptase, on the other hand, was much better than we have seen for many years indicating that new exploration and mining is taking place in and around Tsumeb. Some of the individual pieces were up to 10cm is size, richly covered in dark green crystals, many as large as 1cm across. Its wonderful to see these two old-timers return to the exhibition circuit.

Latest Fluorite Find from Namibia	Stunning Chinese Realgar

In spite of the exhibition's size, exciting themes and plenty of new material, our overall feelings about the show this year are mixed. On the one hand the show continues to be enormous and well attended by both dealers and the public. As such, it continues in our opinion, to be Europe's, and possibly the world's finest mineral show. However, serious downsides appear to have crept in, largely caused by the behaviour of some attending dealers.

The first concerns price. In our view many dealers at the show, and we suspect in the mineralogical world as a whole, are starting to lose a grip on reality. Recent prices demanded by European and American dealers have soared in spite of under-performing domestic economies. With high levels of unemployment in the US and abroad, coupled with low wages in developing countries from where most of the minerals originate, these price hike are difficult to justify. Is an element of greed beginning to play an increasing role?

Another interesting outcome is that an enormous disparity in pricing has begun to creep in. Thus whilst we saw some dealers charging 500 or 600 Euros for specimens, others were asking 10 to 20 times less for almost the same quality pieces. A prime example of this was a Hematite from Parkside Mine in Cumbria. One dealer was asking 400 Euros for a mediocre specimen we would not value at more than thirty or forty. Who buys at these prices? Do collectors know that they are being overcharged or is there some kind of "snob" value in buying from particular dealers? Answers on a post-card please.

The final outcome of pricing is that dealers from countries such as China or Morocco are seeing these higher prices and have started to inflate theirs as well. Consequently in spite of vast amounts of Fluorites, Barites, Vanadinites, Erythrites and other common minerals, prices on the first day of the show were little less than ridiculous. Has no one heard of the economic laws of supply and demand?

Pezzottite - Newly approved mineral	World's Largest Topaz

No major surprises then, that by the end of the first day many of the dealers throughout the show were grumbling that business was slow. Our own observation showed that although the halls were quite busy, relatively few visitors were leaving the exhibition with bags or parcels. Enough said!

The second day thus saw early evidence of discounting, especially amongst the Chinese and Indian dealers. Largely selling identical material, alarm became very apparent in each camp as competition for scarce visitor Euros intensified. Specimens displayed on the first day were suddenly slashed by as much as 40%. Walking by the stalls, some dealers were actually starting to invite onlookers to make them an offer. A Chinese lady at the front of the hall soon became very adept at this. By the afternoon the Russians were beginning to do the same, whilst by closing time this trend had also spread to the Moroccan and Pakistani dealers who had held out the longest so far. One dealer was prepared to slash the price of a Vanadinite from 300 Euros to fifty.

And so onto the last day. Sunday morning saw a very blustery day, with lots of wind swirling the leaves outside the Munich Messegelände. The unsettled conditions seem to have spread into the halls as well, where price-cutting had now spread to the dealers of quality specimens as well. Lots of 'Sale' and 'Discount' signs had now gone up, ranging from 20 to 40%. More importantly a number of tables were now vacant, where merchants had decided to cut their losses and call it a day. This was particularly true of hall A6 where most of the overseas dealers were based. However in the central hall several empty tables could be seen as well. By close of day many we spoke to in all three halls were stating overall disappointment with their takings and the willingness of the visitors to spend money. Others blamed an overall recession in the collecting world, whilst some attributed the situation to a lack of new collectors. Everyone seemed to be quite happy to blame others than themselves.

Well, the solution we think is quite simple. Charge people a fair price for their minerals. There is no reason to charge high prices for all but the most outstanding specimens. That way people feel they have a better deal and the practice will encourage new collectors into the pastime. If you become a dealer thinking that you will become rich quick you are in the wrong business. Unfortunately some think they are. As one rather stoic dealer said to us "People buy minerals because they collect them and enjoy them; this is not the New York stock exchange." The message was clear, collecting minerals is not the same as investment banking, nor should it be regarded as such.

Blue Fluorite from Spain	Huge Quartz Crystal - one of several on display

The final two gripes are much more trivial in comparison, but are nevertheless important emerging trends. The first is that many dealers are beginning to display minerals without labels. We saw this on many displays including many of the quality dealers. This practice is very undesirable because to us it seems that minerals are being sold on the basis of them being regarded as decorative pieces rather than having any form of scientific value. Whether this is laziness on the part of the dealers to research the origin or characteristics of their stock, or some other as yet unexplained philosophy, we weren't able to establish. However in our view it markedly harms collecting as it prevents enthusiasts from becoming more knowledgeable about what they are buying. We also noticed a similar observation with price labels which too were missing on many specimens. Whether this is a tactic to encourage visitors to make enquiries or the attitide that "if you need to ask you cant afford it" escaped us at the show.

The remaining trend is form many of the specimens to have been artificially enhanced in some way. Consequently many of the Chinese Fluorite and Calcte specimens we had seen had been soaked in cooking oil, which you only had to smell on your hands after touching any of the specimens. Similarly some of the Indian Cavansite and Pentagonite specimens had been doctored, which we discovered when picking up a large matrix specimen and numerous balls falling off when turning the piece upside down. A few of the Vanadinites had also been glued onto the matrix in this way. Our advice, therefore is to inspect each and every specimen carefully for these sorts of shady enhancements and forgeries before buying.

Another small point for the organisers to consider is to persuade the Messegelände management to install more cash machines at the venue. On the first afternoon the sole ATM run out of money leaving dozens of visitors unable to buy specimens because of lack of Euros. And on the days when the machine was working, the line of people waiting stretched for 50 metres and it took almost an hour and a half of queueing to get money out. Please be prepared for this situation when attending in the future.

Private Collections on Display	German Spa-Box

To summarise then, this year's show was first rate in terms of theme, dealers attending and new minerals, but had seen the evolution of a few trends we seriously hope do not become the norm in the future.

Would we recommend someone attending? The answer must be an unqualified, yes. This is without doubt the best and largest European mineral exhibition and as such is a must for anyone interested in collecting. The experience of the three massive halls, hundreds of dealers and hundreds of thousands of specimens is truly awesome. Couple this with dozens of activities to see and do, wonderful German hospitality and the opportunity to acquire some magnificent specimens makes this a truly unmissable experience. We will definitely be back again.