Antiques Roadshow Tips and Tricks

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Antiques Roadshow comes to New York City, and the rockhounds from American Geode had to be there.  We had volunteered weeks in advance from our PBS Channel 13’s homepage. We did not know what our jobs were going to be, or what the day would entail.

We did learn one Antiques Roadshow tip straight away. No stamps, no coins,,,,and no fossils! Alas no fossils, but as most rockhounds are also collecting aficianados, and we also deal in antiques, antiquities, and folk art, we were able to conjure up some items for appraisal. More on that later…

Now when you go to Antiques Roadshow, we strongly suggest you follow this advice:
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Ice Age Fossils

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Ice Age fossils in Indiana? Yes, the glaciers covered Indiana, and yes, we had mastodons and mammoths! The Indiana State Museum presents this, and educates its visitors, and delights all with their Ice Age display that runs through August 17th.

Now I believed I knew Indiana natural history pretty well, but I learned today that a nearly intact skull was discovered outside Anderson, Indiana. It’s one of the finest in the world.
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Museum of North Carolina Minerals

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On the way to EFMLS Wildacres, we stopped at the Museum of North Carolina Minerals. What  a great idea that was!  The museum is very manageable. Do give yourself 30 minutes to explore the inner halls that tell the story, through “museum quality,” naturally, examples of quartz, pyrite, rare and unusual minerals excavated during the long and colorful mining history in North Carolina.
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EFMLS Clubs in New York, New Jersey, CT, and PA

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EFMLS Clubs interest you? Live in New York, New Jersey, Atlantic Coast and want to join a rockhound club? Like to meet fellow rockhounds, go on field trips, host gem and mineral shows, and get out and rockhound? We are members of 4 different NY clubs, and remain a member of a gem and mineral club down in Houston simply to keep receiving their newsletter!  You will find your interest, knowledge, and fun with rockhounding, and gem and mineral collecting, is enriched when you join one of the EFMLS Clubs. By the way, EFMLS stands for Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies.
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Best Herkimer Diamond Find

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Joe and I met our friend Eric in Fonda on the morning of May 17th. Weather was not in our corner that morning as the claim, which now is 6 feet underground, was also under water.

While we had power tools, a 9000 volt generator, and a lot of Red Bull driven energy, we did not have a power suction unit or drain machine, or anything to remove this water.
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