The annual silent auction at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show was held last night in the ballroom of the the Tucson Convention Center. Donated items were primarily mineral specimens and books, but the prized item of the night was an antique microscope with it's wooden carrying case. The crowd was too thick to see the final bid, but it was expected to be around $2,000.
I had my eye on a large piece of native copper collected in the Ray mine in the 1970's but a couple of dueling bidders were rapidly pushing the price way out of my comfort zone in the closing minutes.
Proceeds from the auction go to support mineral magazines with the Mineralogical Record being added this year as one of the recipients.
Alex Speer, head of the Mineralogical Society of America was busily juggling questions from bidders and trying to keep the auction items organized on the dozens of tables.
Former UA geo professor and Mineral Museum director Terry Wallace was there, in from Los Alamos for the show.