ABOUT MINERAL COLLECTING PART 3 OF 5

摘要

There is probably no such thing as a pure mineral collector, as opposed to a pure mineral dealer. Often the distinction between them blurs, sometimes to the extent that it is difficult to tell which is which. If you are a field collector you rarely keep all you find. You are often willing and anxious to trade or sell your duplicate material. When you do, you are a dealer. If you are a silver pick collector you may, from time to time, need to sell some of your minerals that have been superseded by upgrades, maybe to help pay unexpected bills. When you do, you are a dealer. Even if you only trade some of the specimens in your collection for different or better specimens, you are, at least to some extent, a mineral dealer. Mineral dealers buy and sell mineral specimens to make a living, or at least a partial living. The best mineral dealers love minerals and have their own collections, even though these collections may be limited in scope and quite specialized. If you don't love minerals it will be difficult to learn all you need to know to be a successful dealer. Once you are hooked on minerals it is difficult to get away from them. John Patrick, one-time mineral dealer and later a show promoter, remarked with great insight: "If you think the mineral business is easy, just try to get out of it."