9 pound amber doorstop

[Norbert77]

My friend has a rock as a door stop. I saw it, looked at it, picked it up, weighed it, 9 poundas, 4*5*6 inch dark amber. I asked, it was a gift. Didn't remember from who or where. Need to get it appraised.

 

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[joshuaream]

I've handled some relatively large chunks of Amber from the Dominican Republic, it wasn't a really dense material. (It felt light for its size.)

That density looks more right for glass.

 

[ARC]

Reminds me of...

"The Carolina Gold Rush, the first gold rush in the United States, followed the discovery of a large gold nugget in North Carolina in 1799, by a 12-year-old boy named Conrad Reed. He spotted the nugget while playing in Meadow Creek on his family's farm in Cabarrus County, North Carolina.[2]:11 [3] Conrad took the 17 pounds (7.7 kg) gold nugget home to show his father. However, gold was not commonly seen in their community and the value of the nugget was not understood. The nugget was used as a door stop in the family's home for several years. In 1802, Conrad's father, John Reed, showed the rock to a jeweler, who recognized it as gold and offered to buy it. Reed, still unaware of the real value of his "doorstop," sold it to the jeweler for $3.50 (equivalent to $62.54 in 2019) (approximately one week's pay for a farm laborer at that time). "

 

[Tpmetal]

poke with hot needle to see if amber

 

[Red-Coat]

It obviously has a strong conchoidal fracture. Amber will fracture conchoidally to some degree, but not usually as strongly as seen in the picture. It looks more like glass or a something very high in silica. Obsidian is a natural glass and can sometimes be that colour. Man-made glass of that size would almost always have visible bubbles in it, which you wouldn't see in obsidian (or high silica minerals).

As Tpmetal says, a red hot needle poked into it will tell you if it's amber. It will leave a small indentation and you'll get a whiff of something pleasantly aromatic.

Gold would be nice, but I assume AARC is just teasing ya. Gold nuggets aren't translucent, don't fracture conchoidally, and a 4x5x6 inch nugget would probably weigh around 50 pounds

 

[gunsil]

With that weight and dimensions I think it is glass too. Amber is much lighter in weight for it's size as Joshua says. It also looks like a conchoidal fracture on top as glass would have and more shiny than unpolished amber.

 

[Tpmetal]

It obviously has a strong conchoidal fracture. Amber will fracture conchoidally to some degree, but not usually as strongly as seen in the picture. It looks more like glass or a something very high in silica. Obsidian is a natural glass and can sometimes be that colour. Man-made glass of that size would almost always have visible bubbles in it, which you wouldn't see in obsidian (or high silica minerals).

As Tpmetal says, a red hot needle poked into it will tell you if it's amber. It will leave a small indentation and you'll get a whiff of something pleasantly aromatic.

Gold would be nice, but I assume AARC is just teasing ya. Gold nuggets aren't translucent, don't fracture conchoidally, and a 4x5x6 inch nugget would probably weigh around 50 pounds

Actually it's very easy to get man made glass that big with no bubbles.....

 

[ARC]

It obviously has a strong conchoidal fracture. Amber will fracture conchoidally to some degree, but not usually as strongly as seen in the picture. It looks more like glass or a something very high in silica. Obsidian is a natural glass and can sometimes be that colour. Man-made glass of that size would almost always have visible bubbles in it, which you wouldn't see in obsidian (or high silica minerals).

As Tpmetal says, a red hot needle poked into it will tell you if it's amber. It will leave a small indentation and you'll get a whiff of something pleasantly aromatic.

Gold would be nice, but I assume AARC is just teasing ya. Gold nuggets aren't translucent, don't fracture conchoidally, and a 4x5x6 inch nugget would probably weigh around 50 pounds

It was the doorstop part.. heh

Perhaps I should have clarified. :P

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[BIGSCOTT]

Looks like that opal that they dig at one particular pay to gig mine in Nevada.

 

[WNCsweeper]

Yes that guy needs a lot of clarification apparently

 

[smokeythecat]

TPmetal is correct. If its amber a hot needle will go right through it. The fracture (where it looks like flakes have come off of it) does not resemble what amber would do, but is more in line with quartz or glass.

 

[WG2020]

AARC,

Great historical insight, thank you.

Good luck with your hunts.

V/R

Walt

 

[BIGSCOTT]

AARC, yeah thank's for posting that story, have heard it before but it was good reading it again,
I believe the Reed mine turned out to be the richest in N.C.

 

[unclemac]

personally I don't see how any of us can comment on such a poor picture. The one you posted could be chocolate jello as far as I can see.

 

[ARC]

personally I don't see how any of us can comment on such a poor picture. The one you posted could be chocolate jello as far as I can see.

THAT'S IT ! ! ! ... Petrified Chocolate Jello.

Great ID Uncle.

:P