Minerals and rocks
Collecting specimens, and keeping them worth something
Updated
On this page10
The only craft here that does not make anything, and the two hard edges are at the
ends rather than the middle. At the front, where you may legally collect: BLM allows 25 pounds a day plus
one piece and 250 pounds a year, for noncommercial purposes, and selling what you collected under that
allowance needs a permit or a claim. At the back, the specimen destroys itself: pyrite oxidizes above
about 60 percent humidity and the sulfuric acid eats the label and the box with it. In the middle, where
a maker craft would have a process, this one has a LABEL. A specimen with locality data is a specimen.
The same stone without it is a rock.
93 of 93 written. Every page names its source or says it has none.
Getting started
Before there is a collection.
Is this for you at allWhat it costs to startHow much time it actually takesWhere you may legally collectEquipment for a first tripYour first year, season by seasonWhere the work happensPermission, permits and private landWhat protects the collectorTurning a find into something you can sellNaming a collection or a business
The specimen
What you are actually holding.
Species, variety and what a name meansHabit, form and terminationMatrix, and why it is usually worth keepingWhat makes one specimen better than anotherWhy locality is most of the valueRepairs, and what must be disclosedTreatments, enhancements and outright fakesSize classes, and why they existStoring unsold and undocumented stock
The label
The operation the craft turns on.
Field to cabinet
The loop, in order.
What goes wrong
A collection destroys itself if left alone.
Pyrite decayEfflorescence and Byne's diseaseAcid vapors from the cabinet itselfHumidity, high and lowDehydration and cloudingLight fadingHeat and thermal shockSalt damageBreakage and handling lossDust, mold and pestsLabel loss, which is total lossMislabeling, and the specimen that was wrong all along
Boxes and cases
Where the container decision lives.
What size boxWhich plastic, and why it matters more hereMicromountsPerky boxes and thumbnailsFlats, drawers and cabinetsRiker mounts and display framesGem jars and small lotsCushioning, and what not to useLabels that stay with the specimenDisplay casesPacking and shipping stoneWhen stock goes off-condition
Selling it
Where the rules bite on the way out.
From collector to dealer
What changes when it becomes a business.
Tools and directories
Things to use rather than read.
Beyond the specimen
Where this leads next.
Written from the federal land-management rules, the
conservation literature and the agency guidance named on each page. Collecting rules differ by agency, by
unit and sometimes by parcel, and the land manager for the ground you are standing on is the authority on
it, not this page.