Given the expanse of our country, and the mineral riches it contains, mineral specimens can be a great American collectible. If you travel, check out natural history museum gift shops, local rock shops, and gem and mineral shows for local finds. If your timing is good, you may be able to attend a meeting of the local gem and mineral club. Many towns and cities have such organizations, and they usually include many helpful members who are more than willing to talk rocks and show newcomers the sites. Caves and caverns usually have gift shops with rocks and minerals for sale.
There is a series of books title “Gem Trails of …” that gives information about where minerals can be found in a particular state and how to contact the land owners for permission to look on their land. If you are on vacation, try out this possibility as a family adventure. These books will also have good advice about shoes and clothing for these expeditions and safety concerns. These books will also have information about public lands at allow amateur collecting. And, unlike national parks and most state parks, there are state parks founded solely for the amateur rockhound and where picking up rocks and keeping them is encouraged.
Finally, if the area is famous for it, there may be mineral samples in tourist gift shops, like copper flakes in small bottles in Arizona, or similar bottles of gold flakes in parts of California. Mineral specimens may also be embedded in acrylic paperweights or belt buckles in tourist or western stores. (I once bought a twinned staurolite crystal at Monticello as a “fairy cross” necklace. You never know.)
Fossils are also available in some areas of the States, like the Dakotas and the Nevade/Utah area. These will be available in the same places as mineral specimens, and information about collecting your own should be available with the mineral locations.
Fossil ammonite. Ammonites are found in the Unites States in limestone deposits.
When you buy minerals or fossils at a rock shop or in connection with a natural history museum or cavern, ask the shop personnel about the source of the mineral or fossil. The trade in these items are international and many available in the States are from foreign countries. That is no problem unless you specifically want a collectible for a specific location.
Shells are available on the East, West and Gulf coasts, but these are usually imported, so be sure to ask. Vacation destinations usually have a few shell shops at hand. There is a concern here: overfishing of shells is a problem in many parts of the world. How not buying already dead shells can affect this trade in a positive way is questionable, but it is a concern. Buying local specimens from reputable dealers is a lot to ask for a vacationer, but there it is. You will have to decide for yourself.
Shells on the beach like this can be found on the Gulf Coast.
Check on the state mineral, fossil etc. as you travel. Those should be found in the state, and tourist information should be able to tell you where they are found. I have a list below.
Abalone shells are beautiful. Abalone grows on the California coast for food, so buying the shells is not an impact on the local biota.
For more information: see the the Audubon Society Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals, ditto Shells, and ditto Fossils. The Fossils and Rocks and Minerals books include localities, and lists of good collections. All these may help you plan where to go to find these natural treasures.
Some Oregon beaches have beautiful jasper and agate pebbles. Be sure to ask for permission if the beach is not a public one.
* * * When you redecorate, consider cabinet pulls made in the forms of fossils and sea shells. * * *
The images on this post are from Stock Xchnge.
Go to the Table of Contents to see all the topics covered so far.
Click American collectibles to go to the latest entry on this site.
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The following list is of state minerals, rocks, stones and gemstones.
Alabama
-mineral: Hematite
-rock: Marble
-gemstone: Star Blue Quartz
-fossil: Basilosaurus whale (Basilosaurus cetoides)
Alaska
-mineral: Gold
-rock: Jade
-fossil: Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)
Arizona
-mineral: Fire Agate
-rock: Petrified wood
-gemstone: Turquoise
-fossil: petrified wood (Araucarioxylon arizonicum)
Arkansas
-mineral: Quartz
-rock: Bauxite
-gemstone: Diamond
California
-mineral: Gold
-rock: Serpentine
-stone: Jade
-gemstone: Benitoite
-fossil: Saber-toothed cat (Smilodon fatalis)
Colorado
-mineral: Rhodochrosite
-rock: Yule marble
-gemstone: Aquamarine
-fossil: Stegosaurus (Stegosaurus stenops)
Connecticut
-mineral: Garnet
-fossil: dinosaur tracks (Eubrontes giganteus)
Delaware
-mineral: Sillimanite
-fossil: Belemnite (Belemnitella americana)
Florida
-stone: Agatized Coral
-gemstone: Moonstone
Georgia
-mineral: Staurolite
-rock: Quartz
-gemstone: Amethyst
-fossil: shark tooth (undetermined)
Hawaii
-gemstone: Black coral
Idaho
-gemstone: Star garnet
-fossil: Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens)
Illinois
-mineral: Fluorite
-fossil: Tully Monster (Tullimonstrum gregarium)
Indiana
-stone: Limestone
Iowa
-rock: Geode
Kansas (none)
Kentucky
-mineral: Coal
-rock: Kentucky Agate
-gemstone: Freshwater pearl
-fossil: brachiopod (undetermined)
Louisiana
-mineral: Agate
-rock: Petrified palmwood
-fossil: petrified palmwood (Palmoxylon)
Maine
-gemstone: Tourmaline
-fossil: Pertica plant (Pertica quadrifaria)
Maryland
-gemstone: Patuxent River Stone
-fossil: murex snail / gastropod (Ecphora gardnerae Massachusetts
-mineral: Babingtonite
-rock: Roxbury Puddingstone
-gemstone: Rhodonite
-fossil: dinosaur tracks (undetermined)
Michigan
-stone: Petoskey stone fossilized coral
-gemstone: Chlorastrolite (aka Isle Royale greenstone)
-fossil: American mastodon (Mammut americanum)
Minnesota
-mineral: Iron
-gemstone: Lake Superior agate
Mississippi
-rock: Petrified wood
-fossil: Basilosaurus and Zygorhiza whales (Basilosaurus cetoides, Zygorhiza kochii)
Missouri
-mineral: Galena
-rock: Mozarkite
-fossil: Sea lily (Delocrinus missouriensis)
Montana
-mineral: Agate
-gemstone: Yogo Sapphire
-fossil: Duck-billed dinosaur (Maiasaura peeblesorum)
Nebraska
-mineral: Blue Agate
-rock: Prairie agate
-fossil: Woolly Mammoth, Columbian Mammoth, Imperial Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius, Mammuthus columbi, Mammuthus imperator)
Nevada
-mineral: Silver
-rock: Sandstone
-gemstone: Precious: black fire opal, Semiprecious: turquoise
-fossil: Shonisaurus (Shonisaurus popularis)
New Hampshire
-mineral: Beryl
-rock: Granite
-gemstone: Smoky quartz
New Jersey
-fossil: duck-billed dinosaur (Hadrosaurus foulkii)
New Mexico
-rock: Turquoise
-family: Coelophysis (Coelophysis bauri)
New York
-gemstone: Garnet
-fossil: sea scorpion (Eurypterus remipes)
North Carolina
-stone: Granite
-gemstone: Emerald
North Dakota
-mineral: Teredo Wood
-fossil: shipworm-bored petrified wood (Teredo petrified wood)
Ohio
-gemstone: Ohio Flint
-fossil: trilobite (Isotelus maximus)
Oklahoma
-rock: Rose Rock – Barite crystal
-fossil: Saurophaganax (Saurophaganax maximus)
Oregon
-rock: Thunderegg
-gemstone: Oregon sunstone
-fossil: Dawn redwood (Metasequoia occidentalis)
Pennsylvania
-fossil: trilobite (Phacops rana)
Rhode Island
-mineral: Bowenite
-rock: Cumberlandite
South Carolina
-mineral: Amethyst
-stone: Blue granite
-gemstone: Amethyst
South Dakota
-mineral: Rose quartz
-gemstone: Fairburn agate
-fossil: Triceratops (Triceratops horridus)
Tennessee
-rock: Limestone
-stone: Agate
-gemstone: Tennessee Pearl
-fossil: bivalve (Pterotrigonia thoracica)
Texas
-stone: Oligocene petrified palmwood
-gemstone: Texas blue topaz
-state dinosaur: Pleurocoelus (Pleurocoelus nanus)
Utah
-mineral: Copper
-rock: Coal
-gemstone: Topaz
-fossil: Allosaurus (Allosaurus fragilis)
Vermont
-mineral: Talc
-rock: Granite
-marble and slate
-gemstone: Grossular garnet
-fossil: Beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas)
Virginia
-fossil: scallop (Chesapecten jeffersonius)
Washington
-gemstone: Petrified wood
-fossil: Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)
Washington, D.C.
-state dinosaur: “Capitalsaurus” (nomen nudum only)
Wst Virginia
-rock: Coal
-gemstone: Silicified Mississippian fossil coral
-fossil: Jefferson’s ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii)
Wisconsin
-mineral: Galena
-rock: Red granite
-fossil: trilobite (Calymene celebra)
Wyoming
-gemstone: Jade (Nephrite)
-fossil: Knightia (Knightia)
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Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_minerals,_rocks,_stones_and_gemstones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_fossils
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Go to the Table of Contents to see all the topics covered so far.
Click American collectibles to go to the latest entry on this site.