New Gift Shop Items

I had a few museum appointments this week, so after picking up my Quartzite and Tucson purchases last weekend in Ontonagon, I spent a couple of days counting, organizing, and pricing the new inventory. I am going to build some new shelves in the gift shop, so for now I put most of the inventory out on additional tables in the gift shop. I have some of the same items I've carried in the past plus a lot of new and incredible rocks and minerals.

There is a dealer I met at a show a few years ago.  He and his wife mine and acquire bulk raw material.  They have a crusher as well as several HUGE tumblers.  This equipment allows them to create incredible polished stones.  I purchased quite a bit of Ocean Jasper.  They had acquired the raw material several years ago when it was still available.

Calcite....

A dealer in Quartzite made me a deal on lots of Laguna, Mexico agate.  I checked on the Internet and specimens equal to the quality I have for sale are going for over $100 each.  I am passing on the deal that I received and selling most specimens for between $40 and $60.  For some of those that shadow the best, I'm asking a little bit more.  Yes -- there are many that have terrific shadow!

Lots of different and unusual tea light candles.  Many that are not pictured here.

Amethyst, thick agate slabs (on stands), and more....

Thick agate slabs behind the goddess lamps...

Petrified wood towers....

Lots of raw fire agate.....

Unusual natural perfect pyrite crystals attached to limestone matrix.  Apparently it is very difficult to mine these crystals without breaking them off the matrix, but it can be done with precision tools.

Fossilized sharks teeth....

Magnetite spheres.  The camera flash made an interesting light pattern......

Botswana agate.....

Banded agate pebbles....

Larger than usual polished stones....

Botswana eye agates that look a whole lot like Lake Superior eye agates.....

Oregon eye agates....

This is the first time I have had Oregon snakeskin agate for sale.

Moqui marbles ....these are iron concretions.

Citrine chrysoprase.....

I purchased several thick agate slabs including one (not pictured) that is at least a foot and a half in diameter.

Septarian nodules....

And of course a lot of polychrome Jasper -- the newest mineral found on earth.  As many of you know, it was found in Madagascar a few years ago.

There are more items, but these are enough photos to give you some idea of what the museum's gift shop has to offer.