Dear Tom and Conchlers,

were there any landshellers at this meeting and could you remember if my
donation went too. I t would be nice
to know who has bidded for them and if that person like the shells from
Austria and Italy. There were also
some rarer and endemic species, all about 55 species. I think it was a nice
material, but I would like to have it
to confirmed, as I want to know how the European species are accepted
worldwide.
with best shelling regards and hoping to hear from you as soon as possible.
Helmut from Innsbruck



Helmut "Helix" Nisters
private:
Franz-Fischer-Str. 46
A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
phone: 0043 / 512 7 57 32 14
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
website: www.netwing.at/nisters
(looking for samples of shellgrit worldwide for
my nearly 89 years aged mother Irmgard to keep
her quite young and active - it's medicine for her)

office:
Natural History Department of the
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck
Feldstrasse 11a
A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
phone: 0043 / 512 / 58 72 86 - 37
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
website: www.tiroler-landesmuseum.at
(donations in form of shells and literature (copies)
are much wellcomed and appreciated)



----------
> Sorry to all who thought the ending of my previous message a bit abrupt.
We
> had a thunderstorm go through and it shut me down.  When I got things back
> up, the message kind of just went.  Please, no computer advice -- I swear,
> it did it all by itself.  Now where was I....
>
> Day 3 cont'd...  Not too much more to add except the afternoon fieldtrip
to
> the Houston Museum of Natural Science.  Lots of great displays of dinosaur
> fossils, minerals (a huge display), mammals, bugs and the sort of stuff
> found in a natural history museum.  Of note was the display of shells.
Most
> were suspended between vertical panes of glass -- each side accessable to
> viewing so you could see all aspects of each shell.  A huge improvement
over
> the normal flat-shelf display.  Also on hand were several world-record
> shells including Don Pisor's Syrinx aruanus (about a yard long -- looks
like
> a boat!!) and Pleurotomaria rumphi (a bit larger than a half deflated
> basketball).
>
> Day 4 (24 June) was the day of the oral auction.  We had more quality
> presentations and silent auctions in the morning and then gathered to see
> the Dave Green and Jim Brunner auction act, as they made sure they got
full
> value for each item auctioned -- "It's only money!"  There were over 150
> lots including 50+ lots with multiple shells -- some with hundreds of
shells
> in the case of the smaller shells.  The high item was a slit shell which
> sold for $2,200 -- no names as I do not know if the individual wants to be
> identified.  But if you were there you saw some animated bidding.  It was
a
> lot of fun.  The low bid was probably my own $35 for a nice fig shell.
As I
> mentioned previously, the auction made over $22,000 and when the proceeds
> from the silent auctions and the raffle were added to the total, it came
to
> over $29,000.  In case anyone who was unable to attend is curious, here
is a
> small sampling of the items offered.
>
> -  Two Cancellaria laurettae (a new species named for COA's own Lauretta
> Marr who also gave a great presentation).
> -  Harpa costa (one of three, yes three offered).
> -  A growth set of Chicoreus spectrum (Emily Volkes was in attendance in
> case anyone had a murex question).
> -  Austroharpa punctata (first time auctioned at COA).
> -  Two perfect Acteon eloisae (Don and Eloise Bursch were in attendance
and
> I got a couple autographs for my Shells of Arabia book).
> -  A set of four different epitoniums (Bruce grabbed these of course).
> -  Four slit shells (P. westralis, two P. anseeuwi, & P. or rather
> Entemnotrochus adansonianus bermudensis -- and now you know the high price
> shell).
> -  A huge Conus pergrandis (there were also several of these in the bourse
> and they seem to have finally made it down to the very high three figure
> range).
> -  Several Conus, Oliva, Cypraea, bivalve, and land shell collections --
> each a collection in itself.
> -  A shelling trip with Peggy Williams to South Bimini Island!
> -  Two sets of bright orange Lyropecten subnodosus, each the size of a
> dinner plate.
> -  19 specimens of 7 species of Tibia (an entire collection in a single
> bid).
> -  And about 125 more items.  It was some auction!
>
> After the auction we were able to pick up (read pay for) our silent
auction
> items and I was pleasently surprized to find myself with money left for
the
> bourse the following day.  Oh, almost forgot.  Kim Hutsell was available
> each day to measure shells for world record status.  And to Phyllis Diegil
> who wasn't able to attend, I think the Nerita textile you just sent me
will
> qualify as a new record!!  I'll give you full credit unless you want it
back
> now -- in which case I lost it yesterday!!  For everyone else, I've seen
> soup bowls smaller than this 60mm monster.
>
> That evening the Conch-L attendees gathered and shared stories about the
> electronic goings on while we were away (you folks did get a bit worked
up!)
> and everyone tried to put a face to a name.  We talked about viruses,
> database programs, and various and sundry other topics.  Nice not to even
> need a spell checker.  Thanks to COA for sponsoring Conch-L as these are a
> great bunch of folks.
>
> The next day (25 June) or day 5 we finished off the programs in the
morning
> and then gathered to see what wonders awaited behind the doors in the
> bourse.  At 12 noon the doors opened and the scramble for biggest/most
> colorful/perfect shape/or cheapest shells began.  There were a few hazards
> as I noticed Tom Rice taking pictures of the goings on when he wasn't
> selling shells.  He assured me he would electronically pull in my gut and
> add hair to my head on any picture of me.  Nice guy that Tom!  This was a
> quality bourse (in fitting with the entire convention) and by the end of
the
> day both Bruce and I were left with just enough money to pay the hotel
bill
> there and the one on the way home.  Some of the highlights I noticed were:
>
> -  Many Cypraea leucodon -- fun too look at but be very careful touching
> unless you really want a second house mortgage (actually the prices were
> pretty good, though still beyond most collector's budgets).
> -  Some of the biggest and most colorful Cypraea aurantium (Golden Cowrie)
> ever (Bruce got a great one from Neptune Shells for less than 1/4 of the
> cost of my pale and much smaller one purchased just a few years ago --
well
> maybe 10 years ago).
> -  Harpa goodwini with a color and gloss like it came out of the ocean
> yesterday (I got that one -- thanks David).
> -  And so on.  I was able to get a few nerites plus a few too many shells
of
> other families.
>
> That evening Bruce and I double checked our finances and realized we would
> make it if we skipped a meal a day (never a bad idea) and found a real
flea
> bag hotel on the way home.
>
> The final day (26 June) was the bourse in the morning and the banquet in
the
> evening.  The morning bourse was well under way before I finally braved
the
> doorway.  After less than 30 minutes (and some admittedly great shell
> bargins), Bruce and I were faced with using plastic all the way home and
> sleeping in the car.  Oh well, no problems as the meal that night was
> already paid for.
>
> The banquet began with the awarding of raffle prizes.  After the last one
> was collected, Jim Green asked everyone in the audiance who had won a
prize
> during the convention to hold up their hand.  It looked like half of the
> room was holding up hands but was probably closer to one third.  That is a
> lot of prizes for one convention.
>
> The meal was really good with attentive service and very generous
portions.
> After desert (rasberry something in a bowl made of dark chocolate) we
> watched two slide shows of underwater pictures from around the world taken
> by Jackie and Joanna (I think) Reid.  The photos were the quality of any
of
> the top coffee table books, but in this case included lots of shells as
well
> as some very interesting marine life (some as yet un-named).  It was a
> perfect ending for a great convention.  There was an extra fieldtrip
planned
> for the following day to Galveston but Bruce and I were headed home.
>
> We got started at 4:30 the next morning and drove the 1,100 miles straight
> home.  I dropped Bruce off at his house and was able to greet my wife in
> time for dinner.  Notice I was in time for dinner, nothing said about
eating
> dinner.  What I really did was unpack shells, rattle on about the
convention
> and the people I met, and then crashed.
>
> So there you have it, COA 2000.  Quite a show.  There is obviously a lot I
> have left out, like the evening spent drinking Margaritas and some bizarre
> orange drink with Ardeth and her husband in their RV, or the many fine
area
> restaurants we sampled, or the Melo broderipi Bruce bought from Don Pisor
> that is big enough to use as a punch bowl, or the trades I made with John
> Bernard, or the new friends, old friends, lots of laughter, or....well you
> get the drift.  It was a great time and the folks in Texas can rightfully
> feel very proud of their accomplishments.  If you couldn't attend, you owe
> it to yourself to begin planning to make next year's convention in
Florida.
> Those of us who were lucky enough to be able to attend have been enriched.
> Wait, that can't be the correct term as I'm now very broke!  I guess I can
> say it was worth every penny.  Thanks to COA and our friends in Texas.
>
> Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA (I seem to owe a lot of people e-mail --
> please be patient as I have to "work" with all of these lumps of calcite a
> bit first)
>