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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,207 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
673 Posts |
This week I only got to get to the shop to work a couple hours Wednesday and a few hours Saturday...so when Clyde said he was coming in Sunday to get some things done- I offered my services, and got a few more hours ...funny how much I enjoy the seemingly mundane tasks I perform (ALOT of sorting ) Sunday is the day that the bags/buckets of silver/gold must be counted and weighed to go to the smelter on Monday, sheer volume just makes it interesting...to me anyway. 2500 dollars face silver coins into 500 dollar bags, Three 500 ounce bags of silver bars, and I did not weigh the gold, but I figured that bucket to weigh about 40 pounds....that's alot of gold ! The local police are there every Monday to supervise the loading of this material, one of the officers is a collector and frequent visitor on and off duty. Anyway...the other shiny things. When people bring in their jewelry to sell , they are told to remove the stones if they want them. We can remove them but they can be broken or chipped and he does not buy diamonds anymore (most are very small anyway) except in special cases. They do however have a relationship with an jewelry expert, and send many customers there if they want to sell the stones mounted. He also comes in a couple times a week to look for anything that might be valuable. After everything has been checked they have to break the stones out of the jewelry that still has stones in it...so guess who gets the hammer  Most of the stones break or chip using this method of persuading them out of their golden shackles , but some survive... so I asked Clyde if I could have them and he said sure. Here's a picture of what I saved out of the rings and kinda sifted through the dirt for when I cleaned out the wooden box the vise they smack them on is in - it keeps alot of stuff from flying around.[/size=2]  I doubt there is anything of value there, but some of them are pretty cool IMO. If you have made it this far.....  A few weeks ago a coin came into the shop that I knew I wanted as soon as I saw it...and Nick knew he would also like to have it...but he had to OK his purchase with his wife... So , to make a long story....he he...longer ! He has seniority so I told him it was his if he was able to get it. After three weeks he told me that I could have it , when he could find it in the mess on his desk. Their desks are often a complete mess with coins these days since they cannot get them packaged when they do nothing but buy all day. Wednesday he looked for it and found it ! So I told him I would get it Saturday when I worked again (and get paid- yes they actually pay me to do this stuff ! can ya believe it ? ) Not really a rarity , as just over a million of them were minted, but special in its own right , struck as few coins are. When I went to the MSNS show late last year, Clyde had about 25 of these to sell. They were mostly lower grades, cleaned, or both, but the higher grades do not come in very often (2-3 estimated this grade last year at this particular shop) So I brought it home yesterday , and called it my birthday present to myself...from myself I am posting this particular coin in the grading forum, I will post a link to it here, as soon as I get it up there Sorry about the delay...froze up on me...here ya go ! https://goccf.com/t/28700Edited by InfiniteInterest
04/13/2008 9:29 pm
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Valued Member
United States
178 Posts |
gemstones are kinda cool, not something I would buy. but I would pick them up for free. wondering what that coin is?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1713 Posts |
Wow neat stones and even better when your boss just lets you have them. Wish I could get in on some action like that. I think if I had the money I might like to get into gems sometime. If I may ask, what is on the red and blue stones in the center (the gold designs)?
Edited by arthrene
04/13/2008 10:16 pm
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Valued Member
United States
178 Posts |
they look like free mason symbols
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2443 Posts |
Pretty cool. I wonder if the gem guy missed something and you might have something special in the pile? So what are you going to do? If I were you, I'd buy a small treasure chest and fill them up with the gem stones. Not many people can say they have a treasure chest full of jewels.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
673 Posts |
Yes , j-easy is correct, those are freemason symbols. and thanks Amazon, I just might do that ! I am pretty sure nothing of real value gets missed, but in the haste in which things are done right now...You just never know ! Most of the stones look pretty cheap out of the mountings, but they looked pretty nice when they were mounted. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
quote:
so I asked Clyde if I could have them and he said sure.
I hope they're not all banged up because some of those could have value.  If you don't mind, I'll point some arrows at a few I think you should check out (I'm a bit of an amateur geologist) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
673 Posts |
Point away KurtS, I have no clue. I tried not to damage any I could and I tried only to keep the ones that did not look damaged. I have yet to look at them through a loupe. I will check any that you indicate a bit closer...Thanks !
Edited by InfiniteInterest
04/14/2008 12:42 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Great...well, I don't want to get your hopes up, but I imagine some of those stones are real. One would hope there's no real carborundum there (sapphire, emerald), but it can't hurt to check. The stone that has the most promise is the oval light green one...the color is right for a particular jade. I just hope nobody destroyed any heirlooms inadvertently. The cameos were popular in Victorian times, but perhaps they're just fakes? I'm not Mr. Antiques Roadshow, but minerals were a bit of a hobby.  A lot of these are obviously glass due to their colors. Others I just posted what they resemble as natural minerals--or just as easily synthetic, but all the same intriguing to me. The dot of each number touches the stone described.  Edited by KurtS
04/14/2008 03:22 am
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Valued Member
United States
499 Posts |
KurtS
Just a small correction from another geology nut. Emerald is not green corundum, it is a member of the beryl family. The only member of the corundum family that is not labeled as one color of sapphire or another is the deep red, which is ruby.
Richard
Edited by ziggy9
04/14/2008 07:18 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Richard--ah, you're right! I stand corrected. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
673 Posts |
Thanks very much for the info KurtS. I knew I had seen the Tiger's Eye before, they are pretty cool looking, and one of them is pretty big. Next time I get some KurtS, you shall be rewarded for your information and help ! I don't know how many Sundays I will get to do that particular job, but alot of the small stones were in the dirt/sand in the bottom of the box we break them in. I should say, it is not really dirt or sand, it is the plaster remains from plated silver items as they are filled with plaster ususally and need to be emptied for wieghing. Thanks Again KurtS...I will probably copy your info for reference,I hope I can get some more nice ones !
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
You're welcome! I may easily be completely wrong, but a few of those caught my eye. Definitely the big tiger eye's are real. If # 10 are real stone, then they're antiques and a dealer would buy them from you. If #7 is a real stone, then it's pretty likely a tourmaline because few other gemstones have two colors. One way to tell between natural stones and glass is to shine light through them. Under a loupe, if you see any small inclusions (dark specks, streaks, other crystals), or fracture planes (reflective surfaces) within the stones, most likely they are natural as glass/plastic/etc. are manufactured clear. Only the most expensive natural stones are absolutely perfect--and basically worth a fortune if they're high-end gemstones. But finding a perfect amethyst is possible; I've bought one for a friend. I just went by color and gut instinct, but I would lay every stone on a light table and give it a good look. Another very good and quick test is to take any faceted stone against an ordinary piece of window glass. If any scratch the glass, those deserve further scrutiny because most fake stones won't be that hard. ( cubic zirconia and synth. sapphire are an exception here, but w/o inclusions). Probably most of the stones will fail that test. Therefore, hardness and inclusions will be a good test for a natural stone. Well, that's probably "info overload," lol. Good luck! Edited by KurtS
04/14/2008 5:50 pm
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,207 |
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Posted 04/13/2008 10:14 pm
