(23) A Typical Mining Artifact Show

Mining Artifacts Shows

For those of you that are looking for mining artifacts and learn more about early mining you should attend the twice a year Mining Artifact Swap Meet. This is a group of hardcore collectors who bring the “good” stuff to the shows.  They are generally two shows a year and the first one is in February and the second one is in June in either Colorado or California. The Colorado and California shows rotate every other year between the two states. These shows are not well advertized and the one in Tucson is held during the annual February Tucson Gem and Mineral Show that takes up most of Tucson’s motels and overshadows other activities.  

This year’s show, shown below, was held on February 8 in Tucson at 6245 E. Bellevue Street from 11AM to 4 PM. They had approximately 25 vendors at the show and attendance was normal. The pictures below show the vendor’s wares and visitors. This show is a good forum to network with people with mining knowledge and to learn about old mining artifacts as shown below:

The next show is going to be in Nevada City, California on June 28 at the Nevada City Elks Building from 10 AM to 4 PM. This show will be similar to the one in Tucson and should be very exciting. The Nevada City area has several mining related attractions, including the North Star Powerhouse and Museum, Nevada City Miner’s Foundry, Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Empire Mine State Park.