Please help me identify this unique looking rock.

[RocksLover]

Hello Admins and all members. I need your help in identifying this rock I recently found. I live in southern NJ, its about 30 lbs, and its been cleaned. When doing a google image search the two possibilities were Antlerite and Cuprite. But those characteristics dont match the pics of my rock. Thank you all in advance for your assistance in trying to help me figure this out. I have been collecting rocks and fossils since a young child but have never seen a rock quite like this one before. I dont know what it is.

 

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[fuss]

The Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness


Try scratching the crystal surface with a penny, if it leaves a scratch mark that is still there after you wipe it it has a hardness of 3.5 or less. If no mark is left try the next item on the list posted, a knife, keep going until one of the objects on the list leaves a scratch mark.

BTW the pics are better, but if you have higher resolution ones to upload that would be fantastic, so as to zoom in on and see more detail.

 

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[RocksLover]

Upnorth42. Absolutely. I will have to wait till I have more of a sunny day here instead of overcast. For scale purposes I will also take some pics of a water bottle next to this rock so you can actually see how BIG this rock is.

 

[RocksLover]

NJearthman. How do you know that this rock wasnt found in another state and taken home to NJ? If you look closely at the pics their are crystals side by side and they dont look like glass. Their even present in growth bands on three sides of this rock. And it has light yellow and light green clusters of crystals also. While I do think its possible it could be slag I dont think its probable. Thank you so much for responding to my thread I really appreciate it more than you know especially someone being local from NJ.

 

[RocksLover]

fuss, I have a Digital Canon camera that I can use. I will definitely take new pics with my other camera instead of my Apple 6SPlus cell phone. That should definitely work. I will also do the scratch test soon and post my findings. Thank you for your help.

 

[NJearthman]

Rocks Lover where did you find this “rock”? I ASSumed it was found in southern NJ based on previous posts. Note that many of the “crystal” surfaces show conchoidal fractures. This curving fracture surface is characteristic of glass and other brittle materials with no crystal structure. Anyway, it is a curious piece and looks good on the mantle. Let us know when the mystery is solved.

 

[RocksLover]

Yes it was found in southern NJ in my neighbors front yard. She gave me permission to take all rocks and bricks. As I had said earlier it is very possible that this rock was found in another state and brought back to the state of NJ. As a young rock hound I brought rocks back from family trips such as Minnesota and Colorado to my home state of Nebraska. I believe if this rock was stepped on or dropped outdoors it could be possible that some damage has occured with the crystals in what you desribe to be as "fractures".

 

[RocksLover]

 

[RocksLover]

 

[RocksLover]

 

[RocksLover]

 

[RocksLover]

I really hope these pics are better. I took them with my Canon DS Model# 126311. Its been overcast here in NJ for the last 4 days so Im hoping their is enough light to do justice to these outdoor pics in natural light. I took 17 pics in all and I have not been able to do the hardness test but thats next. It is my firm belief that this is not made up of shards of glass but rather some type of crystal growth pattern in different colors and formations throughout this large rock and on 3 sides. Again if anyone can help me figure out the mystery of this rock I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks again!

 

[Upnorth42]

You should try and do a hardness test. Some of those crystals look like they might be good enough to be facet grade. If they turn out to be anything good they could be cut and made into something nice.

 

[RocksLover]

Hi Upnorth42. I am posting more pics tonight with a quarter next to the stones for scale purposes. And yes I agree with you they are really pretty stones indeed. I will be doing a hardness test soon and will post my results here. Thanks for your comments.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I'm not seeing crystals RocksLover. I see glass slag with fused soda ash (Sodium Carbonate) and maybe a little refractory brick. Crystals have regular repeating forms. I'm not seeing that structure in your "rock". The color appears to be the same range as all the soda-lime glass produced during that time and even today.

I'm guessing your neighbor is located near the South Jersey pine barrens? That a big historical glass making area going back to the 1700's. Millville and Glassboro were the international center of glass production. Glass production made South New Jersey famous worldwide. Sand and soda ash in near proximity with scrub pine and nearby coal to stoke the furnaces made that area the center of glass manufacturing in the U.S. for quite a while.

 

[RocksLover]

 

[RocksLover]

Hi Clay Diggins. I will have to agree to disagree with you and thats entirely fine. Their are three different colored crystals throughout this rocks surfaces and if you look very close you can see the different formations of crystals side by side each other. And I do not live in Glassboro nor Millville. I have just now posted new pics in sunlight from today due to another member asking for scale utilizing a quarter next to the clusters of crystals. I will be conducting a hardness test soon on this rock. Thank you for your comments. If I do at some point get this rock confirmed by a Geologist as to what it is I will post my findings here.

 

[fuss]

Thx for posting additional images, they are helpful. I'm with Clay for sure after looking at your recent images as far as it being Slag. The crystals have no form, have conchoidal fractures and the specimen has the tell tale bubbles of slag glass. I know you wanted it to be something more exotic but to be honest it's a quite nice specimen all the same! I'd display it in my landscape beds.

 

[RocksLover]

fuss, Thank You for your comments. I guess their is no point in conducting a hardness test since it may be just a piece of slag. Its not that I wanted it to be real crystals I just wanted to get to the bottom of the "truth" on what this specimen might be. Im assuming that slag doesnt have any value? Thank you everyone for helping me to figure out what I found. Stay Safe & Be Well.

 

[Juicyfroot76]

Test them under a black light. And do the hardness test. Ya might be a very lucky person. Best of luck to ya. Definitely a few gem quality stones you could cut there!

 

[Juicyfroot76]

I wouldn't take the first opinion that comes along as gospel. Ya never know if ya don't do the tests!