Here is a shot taken near the entrance to the mineral exhibits.  The very large gem golden topaz crystal 
on the right is from Brazil. It measures about 45 cm in height and is gem quality.  There is another topaz 
behind the large one that is mostly colorless.

Here are two shots showing the interior of the exhibit - one showing a broader view of the interior 
and the other of some superb specimens of calcite and other species such as scolecite and aquamarine.

The exhibit is a feast for the eyes with special displays for such species as rhodochrosite from various world 
locations as seen on the left and then there are  random assorted species selected for their obvious ocular 
appeal such as this one on the right with large cabinet sized specimens of rhodochrosite from the N'Chwaning 
Mine in South Africa and wulfenite from the San Francisco Mine in Mexico.

Of the many theme displays here is one on minerals with inclusions.   The Quartz from Brazil in
the top center of the display is an eye grabber well over 15 cm across with long slightly bent 
acicular crystals of included rutile. 

Two more of the many theme displays - the one on the left is dedicated to phosphates and the 
one on the right to varieties of beryl.  Needless to say the vast majority of the beryl specimens are gem quality... 

Adjacent to the superb tourmaline display is a reconstructed "gem pocket" from the Himalaya mine in 
San Diego County, California. This display accurately portrays the appearance of a gem pocket of tourmaline, 
quartz and other pocket minerals.  Actually, this was the only display I found with an error on the labeling. 
The caption stated: Himalaya Mine, Pala, San Diego Co., California.  The Himalaya mine is actually in the 
Mesa Grande District in San Diego County about 20-25 km to the east of Pala.  It is actually closer to 
Palomar than Pala... Small oversight considering the many natural and interesting minerals present!

Just around the corner from the three tourmalines is a knockout display of native gold specimens. 
The majority are specimens from the California "Mother Lode" country.  These pictures are merely 
a fraction of the more than 100 superb specimens on display.

These two specimens are each cabinet sized pieces.  The cuprite is from Bisbee and 
consists of brilliant ruby red crystals of cuprite.  The specimen on the right is of covellite 
with bladed crystals reaching 6-7 cm across. 

Here are four specimens from Mexico.  The specimen on the left is of Scorodite with crystals 
to 1.5 cm across!!! The specimen on the top right is wulfenite with mimetite from the San Francisco 
Mine.  The specimen on the lower left is also a wulfenite specimen - a very large one at over 25 cm 
across from the San Francisco Mine and the specimen in the lower right is a perfect sixling of 
cumengite from Baja California which measures just under 2 cm across. 

Here are two interesting specimens:  a crocoite on the left with crystals to 4-5 cm and 
on the right is a picture of a "cut and rough" group of  gem phosphophyllite pieces from Bolivia. 

These two are both spectacular: The kunzite specimen on the left, from Brazil, is over 40 cm! in
height and the rhodochrosite from N'Chwaning on the right is a gorgeous blood red specimen that is 20+ cm across. 

Moving through the museum you encounter some really remarkable specimens such as this 20 cm 
Smoky Quartz specimen with a ring of rose quartz crystals wrapped around it and a superb specimen of 
stolzite from Australia with crystals to 1 cm across. 

As you wander through the exhibit you'll encounter theme areas as mentioned earlier in this page.
One of the interesting theme displays is the one on minerals from Tsumeb. There are over 20 world
class specimens on display.  The four here clockwise from top left are: 4.5 cm specimen of
ludlockite, a 6 cm specimen with stottite crystals about 0.5 cm across, an 8 cm specimen of
stalactitic cupriansmithsonite and a 9 cm crystal of azurite partially pseudomorphed to malachite.

One of the "John Veevaert"* measures of the quality of a mineral museum's exhibit is the presentation
and aesthetics of its benitoite specimens.  The Smithsonian has the largest cut (6.5 ct) stone of benitoite I am
aware of.  The two other specimens on display have impressive sized crystals but they are kind of busy looking 
to me.  The specimen on the upper right is a crystal about 3 cm across which is enormous for the species. It is a 
great specimen but would be a sensational specimen if it were not cluttered by the smaller crystals. The piece on 
the upper left has some rather heavily fractured crystals.  The cut stone is the best of the display in my opinion. 
It would be nice to see the museum track down a truly superb specimen of benitoite.  Here is a request from a US
Taxpayer to the US Government:  Please take the money I pay in taxes and save it up for 2 years and get a 
GOOD TRIPLY TERMINATED BENITOITE for the nation. Thank you! 

(*My opinion is, of course, only mine and means something only to me.)

These two shots are of a very small percentage of the meteorites on display.  In addition to the metallic 
specimens there are numerous stony meteorites and stony irons as well as many other solid metallic 
specimens.   There's enough iron on display here to damn near build a Sherman tank!

The last item for display here on this page is a small chunk of the moon gathered by 
Apollo 15 in 1972.  Imagine what the moon must have tucked away in its interior. 
Obviously, the chance for oxidation minerals is remote due to the lack of water and 
atmosphere like that found on earth.  But somewhere there's got to be a pocket of 
some interesting silicate minerals like tourmaline and maybe something blue and triangular(?)...