Cannonman17
Bronze Member
I used to work for a company that sold buckets of dirt from North Carolina to tourists who would then sift through it and look for gem rough. There was a fair amount in the dirt to start with but the company would also add some that they bought to each bucket to ensure everybody would find something. I worked there in the summers and it was my job to not only sell the buckets (priced according to how much stuff was added) but also to point out what was and wasn't gem material. Most rough gems don't look like much and many people failed to listen to me and would just dump out everything that wasn't nice and shiny. At the end of the day I would have to clean out the water trough where each and every day I would fill my pockets with rough rubbies, saphires, citrine, emeralds, etc etc (quite a few different kinds) many years have passed since and I still have at least a coffee can full of this stuff, I know that they would have the people come into the shop with their little pile of gems and sort through it and then talk them, or try and talk them, into getting it cut into stones for rings and earrings and what not so I know that some/much of it is worthy of cutting- but I still question wether or not my little stash is worth anything? Any input would be great. I would really like to trade it for some silver coinage but don't know if it's worth it, I don't want to rip anybody off and I don't want to be ripped off either. The pieces range in size from pea sized pieces of emerald to golf ball sized pieces of garnets and everything in between.
