My Show & Event Schedule

The September Denver News, there is a lot of it!

The 2024 Denver shows came and went in September. It was an unusual year because about half of the shows were in new locations. That didn't stop collectors and buyers from finding them, though.

Our Just Minerals & Crystals Event remained at the Gateway Marriott isolated on the east side of Denver, but had the largest turnout of shoppers ever! Thanks to all of you who came for the bargains!

The Colorado Minerals and Fossil Show, formerly at the Crowne Plaza, moved south to the Marriott Tech Center at the south end of Denver on I-25 and had a good steady crowd of attendees and widespread reports of happy shoppers..

The Hardrock Summit moved from the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver to Westminster, CO, in the northwest metro area, at the Westin Hotel. This show featured many high-end dealers and the Original Denver Gem and Mineral Show as an included event. Free parking and admission drew large crowds, but high-end collectors were sparse, as has been the situation at many major shows this year.

A new satellite show opened in Westminster's Drury Hotel a few blocks from the Westin, featuring about ten dealers and led by the Rocksaholics. The show drew many collectors in search of affordable nice specimens and it did well.

Change will once again be a feature in Denver in 2025 some good, some bad.

The Colorado Minerals and Fossil Show had only a one year contract at its Marriott location and will move to Northglenn, CO, just north of downtown, in a brand new Delta Hotel (also a Marriott property). This location is also on I-25, but only 7 miles east of the Hardrock location. The neighborhood is new and filled with nice restaurants and shopping and will become a major hub for the Denver show.

Our Just Minerals & Crystals Event will move to Thornton, CO at a nice and recently updated Doubletree Hotel (a Hilton property) that is literally across the street from the Delta. The street, 120th Ave, is the city boundary between Thornton and Northglenn.

Due to an unfortunate change in the Hardrock schedule, 'Just Minerals' will be forced to open on Labor Day (which is on Sept 1). The first two days, as in the past, will cater to dealers looking for bargains for their shop and internet businesses and collectors as well. In a change though, the show will now extend for four more days, with both wholesale items and retail high quality mineral specimens at discounted prices. Some of our dealers will attend only the first two days because they lack adequate staff to cover there booth at Hardrock as well. Many big names will remain through the weekend. This overlap with Hardrock will give serious collectors another place to shop. Our show will also overlap with the shows in the Delta and Drury hotels and late arriving wholesale and retail buyers will have an opportunity to shop as well.

The Drury show will continue in place in 2025 but will also expand by adding one floor of dealers working from their rooms in addition to the dealers in this year's small event room. I expect the expansion filled quickly with vendors who could not find space in 2024 and others in search of a less expensive venue

The bad news is a poor decision by the management of Hardrock. The principal promoter of that show also promotes the fine Munich show in Germany. Like other foreign promoters in the past, he fails to appreciate American culture and holidays. As a result, he has moved Hardrock from being the traditional grand finale on the second full weekend in September to the first weekend, thus impacting the Labor Day Holiday. This date change and an increase in the already very high booth rent was objected to by many current Hardrock vendors, but it is moving forward regardless. The Denver "Showcase" will continue through the following week including all of the activity mentioned above and at the Coliseum/Stockyard area, as of latest announcements. Several of the 2024 Hardrock dealers will move to the Just Minerals & Crystals Event, dropping HRS in favor of 6 days availability to everyone.

My Show and Event Schedule

This is a new venue for the show formerly at the Crowne Plaza.

Our building is the combined "Hall of Education/Expo Hall". We will be there for this year only, moving to a brand new nearby Hall for future years.

We are in Booth 28, at the Star on the layout above, next to our friends from

Mountain Minerals (Dudley Blauwet) and Dois Ursas (Chris Ehrlich).

We will be bringing more of the Bill Stone Collection, new specimens from Tucson and a lot of warehouse items never before seen at a Colorado show.

Yes, there will be some at Keystone

I subscribe to the free Roskin Gem News Reports, (gary@roskingemnewsreport.com) that you might also enjoy. A recent version had a nice discussion of the value of "trade shows". It stressed that although there are good things on the internet (and I would add, seen with traveling dealers), there is nothing like attending shows to get the vibe of what is new, what it costs, and who is the source. Socializing is important. Finding the dealer who shares your taste and learning that many booths have similar items, but at widely varying prices, is really important to educated collectors. Attend shows, visit fun cities, and make new mineral friends!

Leonard Himes Dealer in Fine Mineral Specimens

After the Denver Spring Show,

I'll be busy in my lab and sorting minerals for the

Next Show on our Schedule:

Our next shows will be in Denver (April) and ColoradoSprings (June).

We invite collectors to visit us in Monument CO by appointment

during late Spring and Summer.