✅ SOLVED Amber? Mineral?

[coolstuff]

Hi!! I got this cool rock from my Grandfather's house as he is having an estate sale and downsizing. I was wondering what this is does anyone know? They have LOTS of cool stuff at their house but my Mom let me take this rock and some furniture lol Thanks in advance!!

 

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[SkaBa]

Very beautiful!

Looks like glass in the photos.

 

[AU Seeker]

If it's indeed stone, I would say it's agate.


Untitled Document

 

[coolstuff]

Thanks. It does look (to me) like it could be that. I also got a pm that it could be petrified wood. A friend suggested I take it to a college (geology professor?) to find out for sure if it can't be determined for sure online. I'll have to think of a way to display it... so pretty

 

[coolstuff]

Thanks. I'll see if I can find any similar agate pictures on google. Its interesting to me because it really has 3 colors - two solid light and dark colors and like a clear orange color.

 

[Indian Steve]

Possibly Slag Glass?

 

[kcm]

It's going to be very difficult online to say with 100% accuracy whether that is glass or rock. I would suggest getting it tested. That looks like a wonderful piece, even if it tests out as glass.


(later) - Yes, VERY BEAUTIFUL, indeed!!

 

[Tuberale]

If the piece is amber, it will burn if a match is held to it. I don't think it is amber. But I don't know what it is, either.

 

[tamrock]

Look up slag glass chunks, and you'll see many other colors like it. They sell those at many roadside rock shops .

 

[cheese]

Slag glass also called cullet in some cases.

 

[coolstuff]

It's going to be very difficult online to say with 100% accuracy whether that is glass or rock. I would suggest getting it tested. That looks like a wonderful piece, even if it tests out as glass.


(later) - Yes, VERY BEAUTIFUL, indeed!!

Thank you. May I ask the type of professional or place I take it to? The ambery parts seem more soft and I could be imagining it but it seems to cloud slightly with just my body heat. That's just a 10 second analysis though. I like it no matter what it is!

 

[coolstuff]

If the piece is amber, it will burn if a match is held to it. I don't think it is amber. But I don't know what it is, either.

Is that a standard test/would it ruin it?

 

[coolstuff]

And re: the Slag glass suggestions, I agree that a good bit of it looks just like that. The heaviness of it though, and the glowing ambery color, which seems softer makes me wonder if it could be both (probably not I guess).. Anyway I will either check with my grandfather or take it somewhere for testing. I don't know where to take it though.

 

[diggummup]

Nice piece. I love slag glass. It's a cullet that contains amber glass and caramel slag.
The Imperial Glass Co. (and others) used this type of glass in some of their "slag" pieces. here is one such piece-

 

[coolstuff]

Thanks you all. It sounds like it could be any of these although I asked my grandfather and he said he believes it is a rock of some kind, and my grandmother had it from before they were married over 45 years ago. I realized I should have posted more parts of it. I still didn't get all sides really, but I'm including a few more pictures, some of which that show what look like crystals of some kind. This leads me to believe, maybe agate is what it is. Thanks again everyone!

 

[kcm]

Thank you. May I ask the type of professional or place I take it to? The ambery parts seem more soft and I could be imagining it but it seems to cloud slightly with just my body heat. That's just a 10 second analysis though. I like it no matter what it is!

Check post #4 - your friend made a good suggestion.

After looking at the other pics (thank you - VERY nice piece!), I'm leaning towards slag glass. As for the minerals, they "appear" (from the pics) to be only on the outer edges of the piece, which suggests that the glass was molten when dropped onto some natural mineral material, where the two bonded together.

Also, where you write about it going slightly cloudy from just body heat, glass (like most other materials) will do that. When the glass is one temperature and body heat warms up the piece, moisture can collect on the area that was warmed up. Likewise, if you take a piece from a cool area to a warmer humid area, the whole piece will start forming moisture. It's the same principle as sitting out a glass of ice water on a humid summer day and seeing water droplets form on the glass.

Very beautiful piece!! I'm leaning towards slag glass, but I suggest you take it to a college/university if you want a definitive answer. In any case, hold on to it and, for Heaven's sake, DON'T DROP IT!

 

[Tuberale]

Is that a standard test/would it ruin it?

Amber is petrified resin. Resin will sputter before it starts to burn. Put on violin bows. You don't have to let it burn to see it sputter.

 

[Tuberale]

Thanks you all. It sounds like it could be any of these although I asked my grandfather and he said he believes it is a rock of some kind, and my grandmother had it from before they were married over 45 years ago. I realized I should have posted more parts of it. I still didn't get all sides really, but I'm including a few more pictures, some of which that show what look like crystals of some kind. This leads me to believe, maybe agate is what it is. Thanks again everyone!

Must be slag glass. Amber would never have crystals.

 

[HobbyHuntress]

Whatever it is, it looks pretty cool. Needs a light behind it on its spot on a bookshelf.

 

[austin]

It's slag glass or at least just some glass someone nixed together and added crystals to.. If you look closely you can see air bubbles in it. It's not amber or petrified wood...