Mini Miners Monthly In this issue . . .

Vol. 8 No. 7

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Mineral Stamps

The Mineral Name Game Person, Place or Thing?

Egg Carton Rock Collections

by Kreigh Tomaszewski

Mineral Books

Crystal Models

“ Crossover”

Collecting

Autographs

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Vol. 8 No. 7

Welcome back, Mini Miners! Those of you who have been reading Mini Miners Monthly for a while have learned that we like to be a source of good ideas. There are times that we just throw out an idea with the hope that you might give it a try. As you read this issue, please consider trying some of our “Crazy Ideas.” Ask parents and friends for help. It is always amazing when a young person like yourself steps out and

does something extraordinary. You are not too young to … take a college course … start a mineral business … create vid-eos about minerals for YouTube … discover a new mineral. One theme of this issue is to challenge you to do something extraordinary! Our friend (and a very experienced, very successful mineral collector) Kreigh Tomaszewski has sent in an article titled, “Egg Carton Rock Collections.” It’s a fun article full of good ideas. Thank you, Kreigh, for sharing your thoughts and wisdom with us. Where do mineral names come from? What do they mean? Grab a friend or three and a couple really good mineral books - and probably your tablet or laptop - and try to complete the brain squeezer of the month, The Mineral Name Game. Is it Person, Place or Thing? (Of course there’s an answer page - BUT NO CHEATING!) Our last section this month is titled, “Crossover Collecting.” Some mineral collectors eventually stop collecting mineral specimens and start collecting other things that are related to minerals. We have a whole section about some of the fun possibilities: books, labels, crystal models, stamps, and autographs. Mystery Mineral: Who Am I? I am silver-gray and have a metallic luster. I am a sulfide mineral. I can be bent, but I can’t be bent back to my original shape. I contain the elements antimony and sulfur. I was named after antimony, which in Latin is called stibium. Long ago I could be found in very large crystals in Japan. I have also been found in China. Who am I? _____________________________________________

Crazy Idea No. 1

Use your smart phone and video short (1 to 3 minute) presentations about minerals and mineral collecting. Upload them to YouTube.

Become the on-line expert in mineral collecting.

©2014 Diamond Dan Publications. All pictures and articles in this newsletter are property of Diamond Dan Publications and cannot be copied or reused in any format (printed or electronic) without written permission of Diamond Dan Publications, 278 Howland Avenue, Rochester, New York 14620 or diamonddan@rochester.rr.com. Electronic subscription (PDF) $9.95 for 12 issues. Make checks payable to Diamond Dan Publications or pay by PayPal using the email address diamonddan@rochester.rr.com.

Crazy Idea No. 2 Start your own business selling mineral specimens. Research online

sources for specimens. Or, make arrangements to purchase specimens from another mineral dealer. Buy space for a table at a local event.

The event might be a mineral show, but it might also be a sale at a local church or part of a neighborhood yard sale. Earn your own start up

money or borrow from someone you trust and learn how to make money and also how to pay back those who finance your ideas. You’re on your

way to becoming an entrepreneur.

Crazy Idea No. 3

Take a college-level course in mineralogy at a local university or community college.

Crazy Idea No. 4

Become a mineral photographer. When you have high-quality pictures of fine minerals, offer the pictures to mineral magazines - they may print

them. Some day you may be able to make a living at it!

Crazy Idea No. 5 Start a mineral club in your school or community. (In September a new

community mineral club for “kids of all ages” is starting at a Nursing Home in Rochester, New York!)

Egg Carton Rock Collections by Kreigh Tomaszewski

When you are trying to make a rock collection you are faced with several problems. How do you store it? How do you display it? How do you label it? How you store it depends on how big your specimens are. There are some traditional sizes. Thumbnail specimens fit inside a 1 1/4 inch cubic plastic box usually called a perky box. Miniature specimens fit inside a 2 1/2 inch box. Hand specimens are too big for a miniature box, but are smaller than a grapefruit. They may also be referred to as small cabinet specimens. Cabinet specimens are larger than a grapefruit, but are still

small enough to pick up and put on a shelf. Floor specimens are too large to put on any shelf. Boulders are probably to large to bring indoors. Micromounts need a microscope or good hand lens to view and are usually stored in a 3/4 inch box. An egg carton works for most thumbnail to miniature specimens. Most common specimens are roughly the size of an egg. If you go to the geology department of your local college they probably have a room full of cabi-nets with drawers about 3 inches tall full of minerals. The senior collectors at your local rock club proba-bly have a basement room lined with shelves full of minerals. Most beginning collectors have a bunch of egg cartons full of rocks under their bed. Egg cartons tend to come in two styles. One has the lid textured to hold the eggs. The other has a flat lid. You want the kind with a flat lid. Cut a sheet of paper to fit in the flat lid. Most flat lid egg cartons have a dimple in the middle, so you need two smaller pieces of paper. Divide each paper into six squares to match where the eggs would go. Glue the papers into the lid. Each square now is a label for the specimen that would be under it when the lid is closed. As you collect and identify new specimens, put them into egg cartons and update the label in the lid. You may want to take steps to prevent the specimens from being scrambled if the egg carton gets dropped. Using glue to secure each specimen is a fairly permanent solution. Using poster tac is less se-cure but allows you to remove specimens when necessary. And yes, there is special mineral tac available if you do some research. And when your collection becomes serious you want to make a catalog of it. When you go to the library you can find books in the library catalog. You give each specimen a unique identifier. You attach this identifier to the specimen. You add this identifier to the label for the specimen. And you create a catalog entry for the identifier that includes all details you know about the specimen. And like a library catalog (title, author, subject), you index it several ways so you can find it (minerals, chemistry, geology) You really can fit a lot of egg cartons under your bed before your growing rock collection be-comes a problem for your Mom.

The Mineral Name Game Remember the old game “Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?”? This game is a variation on that

theme. We’ll call this game “Person, Place or Thing?” Your challenge is to identify the origin of the mineral name. Is the mineral named after a Person, a Place or a Thing? A “Thing” can be a crystal form, a chemical formula or an element, a plant, a physical property, etc. Circle the answer for each. Then, for the real smarty-pants out there, can you name the Person,

Place or Thing? Look it up if you have to! After you try to figure these examples out, create some of your own and challenge your family and friends.

Adamite - Person, Place or Thing? _________________________

Agate - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________ Amethyst - Person, Place or Thing? ________________ Andalusite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________ Anhydrite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________

Aquamarine - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Aragonite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________ Azurite - Person, Place or Thing? _________________________ Barite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________ Benitoite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________ Biotite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________ Brazilianite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Brucite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________ Cavansite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________ Celestite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________ Chalcedony - Person, Place or Thing? _______________ Chalcopyrite - Person, Place or Thing? ______________ Chromite - Person, Place or Thing? _________________ Cleavelandite - Person, Place or Thing? _____________ Cobaltite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________ Colemanite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________ Danburite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________ Diamond - Person, Place or Thing? _________________

Dolomite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________ Elbaite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________

Emerald - Person, Place or Thing? _________________________________ Feldspar - Person, Place or Thing? _________________________________ Fluorite - Person, Place or Thing? _________________________________

Franklinite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Garnet - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________ Goethite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________ Graphite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________ Gypsum - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________ Halite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________ Hematite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________ Hemimorphite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Howlite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________ Jamesonite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________ Jasper - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________ Kernite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________ Kunzite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________ Labradorite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________ Lepidolite - Person, Place or Thing? _________________________ Linarite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________ Ludlamite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________

Magnetite - Person, Place or Thing? ______________________________________ Malachite - Person, Place or Thing? ______________________________________ Mimetite - Person, Place or Thing? ______________________________________

Morganite - Person, Place or Thing? _________________________

Muscovite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________________ Natrolite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________________ Okenite - Person, Place or Thing? ___________________________________ Orthoclase - Person, Place or Thing?

________________________________ Phillipsite - Person, Place or Thing? ______________________ Platinum - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Prehnite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Pyrite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________

Pyrope - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________________ Rhodochrosite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________________ Rosasite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________________ Rutile - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________________ Scapolite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________________

Selenite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Sillimanite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________________ Smithsonite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________________________ Sphene - Person, Place or Thing? _____________________________________ Strontianite - Person, Place or Thing? _____________________________________

Tanzanite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________________ Tetrahedrite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________________ Thomsonite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________________ Topaz - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________________

Torbernite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________ Ulexite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________ Uraninite - Person, Place or Thing? ______________________ Uvarovite - Person, Place or Thing? _____________________

Vanadinite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________________ Vesuvianite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________________ Wardite - Person, Place or Thing? ________________________________

Wavellite - Person, Place or Thing? __________________________________

Wolframite - Person, Place or Thing? ____________________ Wulfenite - Person, Place or Thing? _____________________ Zincite - Person, Place or Thing? _______________________

The Mineral Name Game, Answers Adamite - Person. Named after Gilbert Joseph Adam. Agate - Place. Named after the Achates River, Sicily, Italy. Amethyst - Thing. Named after the Greek word meaning not drunken. Andalusite - Place. Named after Andalusia, a province in southern Spain. Anhydrite - Thing. Named after “without water.” Aquamarine - Thing. Name means “sea water.” Aragonite - Place. Named after Aragon, Spain. Azurite - Thing. Named after its blue color. Barite - Thing. Its name means “heavy.” Benitoite - Place. Named after San Benito County, California. Biotite - Person. Named after Jean Baptiste Biot. Brazilianite - Place. Named after Brazil. Brucite - Person. Named after Archibald Bruce. Cavansite - Thing. Named after its chemical composition: Calcium, vanadium, silicon. Celestite - Thing. Named after its sky blue (“celestial”) color. Chalcedony - Place. Named after the ancient Greek port of Chalcedon in Asia Minor. Chalcopyrite - Thing. Named after its copper content. Chromite - Thing. Named after its chromium content. Cleavelandite - Person. Named after Professor P. Cleaveland. Cobaltite - Thing. Named after its cobalt content. Colemanite - Person. Named after William T. Coleman. Danburite - Place. Named after Danbury, Connecticut. Diamond - Thing. Named after its hardness and a Greek word for “invincible.” Dolomite - Person. Named after Deodat Guy Sylovain Tancrede Gratet de Dolomieu. Elbaite - Place. Named after the Island of Elba. Emerald - Thing. Named after a Greek word for “light green precious stone.” Feldspar - Thing. Named after the words for “field spar.” Fluorite - Thing. Named after its ability to make iron flow (fluere) out of iron ore. Franklinite - Place. Named after Franklin, New Jersey. Garnet - Thing. Named after a word for “pomegranate seed.” Goethite - Person. Named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Graphite - Thing. Named after the Greek word for “to write.” Gypsum - Thing. From a word for “Plaster.” Halite - Thing. From a word meaning “salt.” Hematite - Thing. From a word meaning “blood-like.” Hemimorphite - Thing. From Greek words meaning “half forms.” Howlite - Person. Named after Henry How. Jamesonite - Person. Named after Robert Jameson. Jasper - Thing. Named from a Greek word used for some precious stone. Kernite - Place. Named after Kern County, California. Kunzite - Person. Named after George F. Kunz. Labradorite - Place. Named after Labrador, Canada. Lepidolite - Thing. Named from Greek words meaning “scale stone.” Linarite - Place. Named after Linares, Spain.

Ludlamite - Person. Named after Henry Ludlum. Magnetite - Place. Named after a district in Thessaly, Greece, called Magnesia. Malachite - Thing. Named after a green plant. Mimetite - Thing. Named after its ability to mimic the shape of other chemically similar minerals. Morganite - Person. Named after John P. Morgan. Muscovite - Place. Named after Muscovy in old Russia. Natrolite - Thing. Named after its sodium (Na) content. Okenite - Person. Named in honor of L. Ocken. Orthoclase - Thing. Named after its cleavage. Phillipsite - Person. Named in honor of William Phillips. Platinum - Thing. Named after the Spanish word for silver, plata. Prehnite - Person. Named in honor of Colonel Hendrik von Prehn. Pyrite - Thing. Named after the Greek word for “fire.” Pyrope - Thing. Named after the Greek word for “fiery.” Rhodochrosite - Thing. Named after Greek words meaning “rose colored.” Rosasite - Place. Named after the Rosas mine, Sardinia, Italy. Rutile - Thing. Named from a Latin word meaning “red.” Scapolite - Thing. Named from Greek words meaning “shaft stone.” Selenite - Thing. Named from a Greek word meaning “moon.” Sillimanite - Person. Named in honor of Professor Benjamin Silliman. Smithsonite - Person. Named in honor of James Smithson. Sphene - Thing. Named from a Greek word meaning “wedge.” Strontianite - Place. Named after Strontian, Argyllshire, Scotland. Tanzanite - Place. Named after the country of Tanzania. Tetrahedrite - Thing. Named from Greek words meaning “four faces.” Thomsonite - Person. Named in honor of Dr. Thomas Thomson. Topaz - Place. Named from Topazos, an island in the Red Sea. Torbernite - Person. Named in honor of Torbern Olaf Bergman. Ulexite - Person. Named in honor of Georg Ludwig Ulex. Uraninite - Thing. Named after its uranium content. Uvarovite - Person. Named in honor of Count S.S. Uvarov. Vanadinite - Thing. Named after its vanadium content. Vesuvianite - Place. Named after Mount Vesuvius, Italy. Wardite - Person. Named in honor of Henry A. Ward. Wavellite - Person. Named in honor of William Wavell. Wolframite - Thing. Named from two old German words meaning “wolf froth.” Wulfenite - Person. Named in honor of Frieherr von Franz Xavier Wulfen. Zincite - Thing. Named after its zinc content.

FINISH THE DRAWING Below are some mineral drawings that are not complete. Your challenge is to finish the

mineral drawing. You can finish the crystals the way they might look in nature. Or...you can be creative and finish them any artistic way you wish. It’s all up to you!

Top Left: Benitoite Crystal on Matrix

Above: Chalcedony

Left: Azurite

FINISH THE DRAWING Page 2

Above: Sapphire Crystal

Right: Silver Hopper Crystals

Below: Rhodochrosite (a slice of a group of stalactites)

“ Crossover” Collecting If you attend a mineral show or symposium today, you will definitely find all sorts of mineral specimens for sale in every price range. More and more, you will also find other items that are connected to the hobby of mineral collecting and the science of mineralogy. Today there are a growing number of collectors who love minerals and mineralogy, but are more interested in the other “things” related to the science than they are in the minerals themselves. Here is an introduction to some of these “crossover” topics that might even be of interest to you.

Mineral Labels. Many mineral collectors collect old mineral labels, especially those from famous collectors or collections. It is always best to have an old label and the specimen with which it came, but there are a lot of antique labels that have been separated from their original specimens. Some are pre-printed and then the collector added the spe-cies name. Some are completely handwritten. Here are some pictures of antique mineral labels. Above left is a label from the personal (and extremely large) mineral collection of W.W. Jefferis. His labels were very distinctive and are eagerly sought after. In the cen-ter is a hand-written label (printed just a bit larger than its actual size!) from the collec-tion of Gustavus Hinrichs. To the right is a label from a famous mineral dealer, George Letchworth English. Some collectors also seek out labels from mineral dealers as well as mineral collectors.

Signatures. Another area of collecting interest to mineral enthusiasts is signa-tures of important or famous mineral collectors. Some can be found at very reasonable prices. The more famous they are, however, the more ex-pensive the signatures become. Pictured here is a signature found in a book by George L. English, who is mentioned above. The book with the signature cost only $9.95. If you want a signature of someone much more famous, like John P. Morgan, you will have to be ready to pay thousands of dollars. Here are some samples you might find interesting: On the previous page is the signature of Frederick H.

Pough. Dr. Pough is the author of the very famous mineral field guide, “A Field Guide to Rocks & Minerals” published by Houghton Mifflin Company as part of their popular “Peterson Field Guide” series. Nearly every mineral collector has owned a copy of this book. What makes this signature even more interesting is that he inscribed the book to Karl Krotki who was a well-known collector who built one of the largest and best collections of mineral books.

To the left is a short letter written and signed by James Dwight Dana, dated New Haven [Connecticut], Jan’y 3, 1874. Dr. Dana is one of the most influential people in the history of modern mineralogy. His mineral books are the basis for most of the modern mineralogy books used by mineralogists and geology students today. Another influential man in the world of mineralogy was Paul Desautels. His coffee ta-ble book, “The Mineral King-dom” continues to be a favorite for collectors. It is out of print, but copies are still readily available.

Mineral Stamps. There was a time that there were not many mineral stamps printed anywhere in the world. In the history of the United States Post Office, there have been only two sets of stamps depicting minerals, both of which are pictured here. How-ever, it is now quite easy to find mineral stamps from all over the world. Google “mineral stamps” in the image category, and you will

see dozens of mineral stamps from all over the world. Most are very colorful, too. On the following page are a few of the really colorful and interesting min-eral stamps you can find. One of the nice things about stamp collecting is that you can find samples of these stamps at very reasonable prices. It does not have to be an expensive hobby.

Minerals stamps from the country once known as East Germany. (East Germany no longer exists.) Left to right, top to bottom: Gypsum, Zinnwaldite, Malachite, Amethyst, Halite, Proustite.

Mineral stamps from the former Soviet Union. Pictured from left to right, top to bottom are Rhodonite, Jasper, Ame-thyst, Topaz, Emerald, Malachite.

Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros (Islands). Pictured left to right, top to bottom: Corundum, Liroconite, Beryl Euclase, Diamond, Chrysoberyl Plancheite, Kasolite, Tourmaline Have you heard of these different countries? Go to an atlas and look them up. Then, look them up on the internet and learn about the mineral riches of each country.

An amazing collection of mineral stamps from South West Africa, a nation that became Namibia after 1991. This is a particularly beauti-

ful collection of stamps. Notice that some were issued in SWA

(South West Africa) and were then re-issued in Namibia. Many nations

have changed names in modern times. It can be a lesson in geogra-phy and political change when you

study stamps carefully.

In 1965 the nation of East Germany issued a series of four stamps to celebrate the beginning of the Freiberg Bergakademie. The images on the stamps were based on drawings from a

very famous book called De Re Metallica. The two stamps to the right picture the silver ore, proustite (which is also known as “Saxon Silver”) and sulfur crystals with quartz.

And here are some mineral stamps from Canada issued in 1992.

Mineral Books. Another very popular topic for collectors interested in minerals is mineral books. If you pursue collecting mineral books, you will quickly learn just how many titles are out there. Some mineral books were published in many different editions. People who col-lect mineral books usually end up collecting a specific cate-gory. Here are just some of the categories you might con-sider:

Antique mineral books (that is, books over 100 years old) Systematic Mineralogy books

Modern mineral books (that is, books published after 1900) Mineral books on a specific state or locality

Mineral books in a certain language Mineral books that have hand-colored pictures

Mineral books that are signed by their author(s) First Edition mineral books

Every edition of a specific title “Coffee table” books about minerals (these have a lot of excellent photographs)

Mineral catalogues of specific mineral collections

Crystal Models. For centuries plaster, wood, glass, paper and now, plastic, crystal models have been made to help mineralogy students study the crystal forms of minerals. Antique wooden and plaster models are eagerly sought by collec-tors. It is very challenging to put together a complete set of any kind of crystal models. In the past couple years I (Darryl Powell) discovered two sets of crystal models on ebay, one made out of brass and another made out of aluminum. The best research I was able to do revealed these were one-of-a-kind sets that a sci-ence teacher in a public school either made or had made for teaching purposes in the class-room. (Pictured above: A pear wood quartz crystal model. Teylers Museum, Haarlem, the Netherlands; used with permission.) If you want to learn more about crystal models, check out this website:

http://www.mineralogy.eu/models/unsigned_wood01.html and under the “Collections” tab, click “Crystal Models.”

“Crossover” Collecting in the field of minerals can be fun, challenging and rewarding. To do it well, you will have to learn a lot about the area you choose. But that’s the fun of it: the

more collecting you do, the more you will learn and the better you will get at it.

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