Whatsit- crystal?

[StoneHunter]

I bought this crystal for $5 and was hoping someone here might be able to identify it? It's definitely not plastic. Is there such a thing as yellow quartz crystal?

Thanks for looking!

 

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[Red-Coat]

For sure there is. Yellow quartz is known as 'citrine'. It's just possible that could be topaz and, although not of gem quality, $5 would be a great price for a crystal of that size. Easy way to tell if you have something you know to be quartz. Topaz will easily scratch it, but not the other way round.

 

[Steve1236]

Does it scratch easily, could be honey calcite crystal, it's not topaz because of the striations, could be citrine quartz crystal. Best I can do from a photo.
Steve.

 

[Red-Coat]

Yes, it could also be calcite and a hardness check will tell you. Quartz will readily scratch calcite.

The 'striations' do not rule out topaz because they aren't striations as such. In topaz, striations are common but they are uniformly linear, run along the main axis of the crystal (ie parallel to it) and are internal features. What I see here are jagged non-uniform linear external features arising from breakage. In topaz, the cleavage is perpendicular to the main axis of the crystal (ie at right angles to it) and, although it's a hard stone, it's brittle and cleaves readily with a splintery fracture.

 

[DDancer]

Yep a hardness test would definitely help, all three thoughts ; quartz, topaz, calcite ; fit with what I see. The weight of it in the hand with a simularly sized piece of quartz could be a tell to as calcite would feel lighter and topaz heavier in the hand.

 

[StoneHunter]

Yep a hardness test would definitely help, all three thoughts ; quartz, topaz, calcite ; fit with what I see. The weight of it in the hand with a simularly sized piece of quartz could be a tell to as calcite would feel lighter and topaz heavier in the hand.

Thank you DDancer, it's pretty heavy for its size, much heavier than a similar but not exact sized quartz crystal.

 

[StoneHunter]

Yes, it could also be calcite and a hardness check will tell you. Quartz will readily scratch calcite.

The 'striations' do not rule out topaz because they aren't striations as such. In topaz, striations are common but they are uniformly linear, run along the main axis of the crystal (ie parallel to it) and are internal features. What I see here are jagged non-uniform linear external features arising from breakage. In topaz, the cleavage is perpendicular to the main axis of the crystal (ie at right angles to it) and, although it's a hard stone, it's brittle and cleaves readily with a splintery fracture.

Good info Red-Coat, thank you. A quartz crystal will leave a mark on the stone but it isn't a scratch and is easily wiped away. The stone won't scratch or Mar the crystal.

 

[StoneHunter]

Does it scratch easily, could be honey calcite crystal, it's not topaz because of the striations, could be citrine quartz crystal. Best I can do from a photo.
Steve.

Thank you Steve, the stone can't be scratched by a quartz crystal but the crystal will mar the surface of the stone. The mar is easily wiped away with no residual evidence.

 

[StoneHunter]

For sure there is. Yellow quartz is known as 'citrine'. It's just possible that could be topaz and, although not of gem quality, $5 would be a great price for a crystal of that size. Easy way to tell if you have something you know to be quartz. Topaz will easily scratch it, but not the other way round.

I'm guessing it isn't topaz since it won't scratch or mar a quartz crystal but the quartz crystal will mar the surface of the mineral, just not scratch it.

 

[Steve1236]

If either wont scratch the surfaces there most likely the same hardness, I'm thinking its citrine.

 

[DDancer]

I second Steve that citrine is the most likely candidate. Could also be a very light smokey as well but its semantics really unless you want to get into chemical properties Testing is important for trying to figure out what's in a picture. Thanks for the feed back. DD