Bloodstone?

[mdog]

I found this stone on a sand bar in the Cedar River in Iowa. The red on the stone consists of red dots. The primary color of the stone seems to be dark green. Would this be a bloodstone?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[Eu_citzen]

Bloodstone is a variety of chalcedony. Not sure what you have there.
Chip of a little edge and see if the luster is waxy - that's a good indicator you might have chalcedony!

 

[mdog]

Bloodstone is a variety of chalcedony. Not sure what you have there.
Chip of a little edge and see if the luster is waxy - that's a good indicator you might have chalcedony!

Thanks, Eu citizen. It's only about the size of a half dollar so I don't think I want to chip around on it. During the late 1600s, a French explorer, Joliet, identified two unnamed rivers as having blood stones. One of these rivers would have been in, what is now, the state of Iowa. I'm trying to identify that River. The French explorer, LaSalle, thought that Joliet mistakenly identified red hematite as bloodstone. The bloodstone River in Iowa also had, on its banks, a village of 300 Indian lodges with several hundred canoes. I found this stone on the Cedar River and memoirs of the early American settlers, speak of an Indian village about a half mile downstream, from where I found this stone. Thanks again.

 

[hvacker]

Streak it. Rub on a piece of rough porcelain or buy a touchstone.
Streaking is legal here.

 

[IAMZIM]

The picture is really blurry, but it looks very similar to a piece of hemetite that I have that has red circles in it. When I get a chance I'll post a pic. A streak test might tell you something like hvacker suggests.

 

[mdog]

Streak it. Rub on a piece of rough porcelain or buy a touchstone.
Streaking is legal here.

Thanks Hvacker. I've heard of streak plates but I've never used one. Would bloodstone and hematite leave the same color streak?

 

[mdog]

The picture is really blurry, but it looks very similar to a piece of hemetite that I have that has red circles in it. When I get a chance I'll post a pic. A streak test might tell you something like hvacker suggests.

Thank you Iamzim. What made me think it was bloodstone were the red dots. Would hematite have red dots too?

 

[hvacker]

Hematite will streak red brown. Bloodstone I don't think will streak as it's a form of quartz. Too hard.
If you can obtain a hardness test kit (cheap) there are stones in the kit that will scratch quartz.
Or you can use your diamond ring..

 

[mdog]

Hematite will streak red brown. Bloodstone I don't think will streak as it's a form of quartz. Too hard.
If you can obtain a hardness test kit (cheap) there are stones in the kit that will scratch quartz.
Or you can use your diamond ring..

Thanks again. I might know a place where I can find these things

 

[IAMZIM]

Sorry I am just getting back, here's the piece of hematite I found, it is magnetic, and I started polishing one side of it by hand. It will be awhile before I get done as I've been so busy. I should not have taken the pic on my beer cozy, but it looks like it still will show up!

 

[mdog]

Sorry I am just getting back, here's the piece of hematite I found, it is magnetic, and I started polishing one side of it by hand. It will be awhile before I get done as I've been so busy. I should not have taken the pic on my beer cozy, but it looks like it still will show up!

Thank you. These are the kind of red dots that are on my sample. So if somebody thought bloodstone was a dark rock with red spots, they might mistake hematite for bloodstone, is that right? Is hematite with red dots common?

 

[Eu_citzen]

Hematite with red dots are quite rare. Besides, bloodstone aka Heliotrope is green with red, I believe?
Hematite isn't green at all. It's typically a steely gray. Streak test will seperate them quite easily.

However, be aware that "bloodstone" was also a synonym for hematite due to the streak color it has, in times by gone.

 

[hvacker]

Did you knit the beer cozy yourself?

 

[Eu_citzen]

Did you knit the beer cozy yourself?

LOL I never even heard of a "beer cozy".
Guess it might be worth adding, that's my experience from Sweden.

 

[IAMZIM]

No haha! I do not know how to knit! But I like to keep my beer cold!:beer:

 

[lostcoastau]

Look up Mary Ellen Jasper