Did I find gem stones or just some old pieces of tumbled around glass in the river?

Old_Festus

Jr. Member
Apr 28, 2013
28
2
south eastern PA
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I recently started panning for gold in eastern Pa.... just for a little recreation in the evenings.

Today I found two small "specimens" buried down on top of a flat piece of shale, mixed in with the magnetic black sand. The first is a completely clear stone (the size is about about 1/4" square) , which I though might be quartz. It's very clear...so clear, it almost looks like a piece of glass...making me wonder if that's exactly what it is. Since I'm in Pennsylvania.... I know that it isn't a diamond but how do I know if its a gem stone or just glass?

The second I found is green in color, which I though might be a beryl stone....but again, it could be the reminiscent of an old discarded green glass beer bottle. Its smaller than the clear one.

When you find stuff like this...how do you go about ruling out it's nothing more than glass bounced around the river for the last 10 years?
If I were up in the mountains o northern PA, where generally less people have traveled (more specifically less glass rubbish finds its way into rivers, etc) it would be easier to conclude these may be semi precious stones but the two specimens I found were in the Delaware river...so that really makes a difference.

I realize a jeweler can certainly tell me, but how do I as a layperson determine what I have.... meaning if it's worth getting something looked at?
 

Festus, I have seen some of Dusted's posts. If anyone here can help you, he seems the most qualified. I would also suggest getting started on equipping yourself with some geology experience. Learn the ways to do hardness tests, streak tests, and other field tests that can help you identify the rocks. TTC
 

Thanks guys for the help. I'll get some photos up today. My camera isn't too good at capturing such small detail, but I'll give it a shot. I'm just going to upload the photos of the clear specimen for now. I will then follow the advice above on where to post additional ID photos. No matter what, I'll have to get some reference materials.

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its glass dear sir... beautiful.. but glass 10379-awesome.jpg the chips and eclusions give it away.. SWEET tho!
 

I was suspecting that it was likely going to be just glass.

I'm going to have to learn how to tell pretty pieces of tumbled glass from semi precious stones.

By the way...very neat photo you have there.
 

never fear the answer! I'm more n willing to answer any question on rock.. so pan away and save the pretty stones! or glass... wife may make something out of it, or fire pits are quite the backyard item to put em into! Good Luck and get some gold!
 

Or plop them into a fish bowl...huh? Thanks for helping me out. I'm headed back out now. Hopefully I find something interesting this afternoon. I'll have to acquire an identification guide.

Does anyone sell gem and mineral guides.... specific to certain geographical regions of the United States rather than just a catch all guide? Something like that would be great for a novice such as myself.
 

their are peices of glass that can make it valueable, belive it or not, i think its call sea glass, when people threw their bottles into the ocean the tide would break the bottles, the the water moving the clas shards back and forth begin to smooth it out over time, people make jewlery out of the peices they find,
 

There's a beach in Benicia, Ca that is almost all glass. They even call it "Glass Beach" i guess they dumped a lot of bottles in the bay at some point.
 

Festus try Rockhounding Pennsylvania and New Jersey by Robert D. Beard


With this informative guide, you can explore the mineral-rich regions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, from the beaches to the mountains. It describes the states' best rockhounding sites and covers popular and commercial sites as well as numerous little-known areas. This handy guide also describes how to collect specimens, includes maps and directions to each site, and lists rockhound clubs in each the state. Rockhounding Pennsylvania and New Jersey offers a complete introduction to this many-faceted hobby and is an invaluable sourcebook.
AUTHOR: Robert D. Beard
SERIES NAME: Rockhounding
PUBLISHER: Globe Pequot Pr
PAGES: 277
FICTION: No
PUBLISH DATE: 01/01/2013
FORMAT: Paperback
YEAR: 2013
ISBN: 9780762780938
ITEM NUMBER: 420428X only 14.10
 

That guide looks like a good place to start. Thanks for that lead.... I'll have to pick up a copy.
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Well...maybe not. I was just reading a review on it and it looks like this is more geared to fossils.

I'll have to see if my local Barnes and Nobles carries it so I can look it over rather than buy site unseen. Here is a review of the book, that I just read on Amazon...

"For the geologist or paleontologist, not rockhounds, ----This book is 70% about fossil sites and most of the mineral sites are "uncollectable". If you are and active mineral rockhound and are looking for something similar to "Rockhounding New Mexico" or "Rockhounding California", this book may not be for you. They have updated the format with higher quality pages and color pictures which I enjoyed quite a bit"

So anyway...I'll have to check my local book store and see for myself.
 

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I have several rock and mineral guides. I especially like the "Smithsonian" guides. Geared towards the actual field rocks and not just at the nice crystals we WANT to find. TTC
 

Terry has a Library! lol .. no seriously he does! ... anyhoo I would dig up Bureau of Land management results for your area, and cross reference the BLM Survey names (who did it) with papers and Books. its been a real help to me!
 

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