It Looks Like Obsidian But...

[diggummup]

It doesn't act like obsidian. It's a paperweight, that I know. It's 2 1/2 in. in height. Weighs 9.2 ounces. Looks like a glassy type material. Opaque and solid. Has surface inclusions and marks that may or may not be natural. The bottom is smooth, glossy and shiny with the exception of scratches which are indicative of having a little age to it. Streak test is black. Seemed pretty soft too when I did the streak test, made a pretty thick line without trying.




Edit- I posted this a few years ago but never got an answer.

 

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[DDancer]

I'll hazard to say its a shaped piece of slag glass. Didn't say what the streak looked like but if its soft it could also be and odd bit of Anthracite coal. Do you know where it came from?

 

[diggummup]

I'll hazard to say its a shaped piece of slag glass. Didn't say what the streak looked like but if its soft it could also be and odd bit of Anthracite coal. Do you know where it came from?

I'm familiar with slag glass, but it leaves a black streak. That's how I figured out it was soft. When I did the streak test, it streaked remarkably easy and thick. I didn't expect it. It was found at an estate sale, so no history other than that.

 

[hvacker]

I Don't know but I suspect it's maybe man made. Like said maybe from coal. Ya don't find many spheres in nature. If so the craftsman had a creative streak.
I know this is sacrilege but take a chip and see if it burns??
Let me tell you what my Mom once said. "Well John. if you want to know if a pearl is real, put it in vinegar, if it disappears, it was real"

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Diggummup,
It looks more metallic than opaque, 2 an a half tall an weighs 9.5 oz.? That's awful heavy fer something that small. Prolly manmade an contaminated or composed of 1 or several metals. Take yer pick. Zinc, magnesium, nickel, tin, potassium, sodium, iron, copper, or lead, to name a few. Did you try an stick a magnet to it?

RH

 

[ARC]

Black onyx ?
Coal ?
Meteor ?

 

[DDancer]

Onyx is a possibility. It does appear to have been fashioned by hand.

 

[diggummup]

I Don't know but I suspect it's maybe man made. Like said maybe from coal. Ya don't find many spheres in nature. If so the craftsman had a creative streak.
I know this is sacrilege but take a chip and see if it burns??
Let me tell you what my Mom once said. "Well John. if you want to know if a pearl is real, put it in vinegar, if it disappears, it was real"

I'm gonna wait before I chip it. I'm sure the shape of it is man made.

Diggummup,
It looks more metallic than opaque, 2 an a half tall an weighs 9.5 oz.? That's awful heavy fer something that small. Prolly manmade an contaminated or composed of 1 or several metals. Take yer pick. Zinc, magnesium, nickel, tin, potassium, sodium, iron, copper, or lead, to name a few. Did you try an stick a magnet to it?

RH

non magnetic and metal detector doesn't pick it up neither.

Black onyx ?
Coal ?
Meteor ?

Too soft for onyx and the streak test doesn't match up. Too soft for meteor. Coal, maybe anthracite that was already mentioned is a possibilty.

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Does it have a red or reddish streak, if so, it's hematite. Hematite won't set off an MD an magnets won't stick to either.

RH

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Hey Diggummup,
You said the streak was black, so I'm thinkin more likely pyrite. I's sittin here lookin at my chunk of pyrite I had found in a dry creek bed a few years ago, when I found it, it was completely all blackened, oxidized, from bein exposed to the elements. On the one side I sanded the cr#p out of it, then scuffed an scratched the rest of it to remove more oxidation. It now looks like what you have there. So I'm thinkin you got a nice big chunk of pyrite concretion that someone had removed any oxidized surface and sanded one side to make it a paperweight. Check or test the hardness an specific gravity, if hardness comes out to 6-6.5 an the sp. gr. turns out to be 4.9-5.1, all in all, not manmade, just a nice big ole chunk of pyrite. Cool.

RH

 

[AMorgan]

Could it be a tektite?

 

[diggummup]

When I mentioned man made, I meant the shape of the object as well as the polished/flattened bottom. I'm not sure if it has been knapped or not to make the little chips all over it. I did a specific gravity test and I am getting more convinced that it is some type of coal. The results were 1.51 on the gravity test. It's not heavy enough to be pyrite. Here is a pyrite "ball" that weighs only 1 ounce less than the one in question side by side, next to them is a 4.5 pound specimen of pyrite-




Here are a few close up shots under 11x magnification of the black paperweight-

 

[BIGSCOTT]

my thinking was tektite also.

 

[diggummup]

my thinking was tektite also.

Too soft for tektite, not to mention the specific gravity number. I think I'm convinced it's a piece of anthracite that has been worked into a paperweight.

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Hey man, I think you got it, anthracite, your specific gravity is a good indicator, I think DDancer suggested anthracite as well. It's kinda neat to have in a mineral collection I guess. Cool.

RH