Each state within the United States of American promotes itself as special and unique by selecting certain attributes from its native flora, fauna, landscape and mineral resources as representative of the state in total. This there are state flowers, birds, gems, minerals, fossils, etc. Let’s take a look at the gemstones selected by the states.

First, there is some overlap between gemstones, minerals and stone. To some extent the gemstone-mineral scale is a sliding one, with fine gems on one end and massive, not well crystallized deposits on the other. Thus gemstones encompasses more than the diamond/emerald class of gems to include many other minerals that are cut and polished to make a fine presentation of the mineral. Those stones are included here.

Quartz Gemstones: Two states have selected Amethyst, Georgia as there gemstone and South Carolina as both their gemstone and as their mineral. Rose quartz is the state mineral of South Dakota, and smoky quartz is the gemstone of New Hampshire. Star blue quartz is the gemstone of Alabama.

Garnet Gemstones: There are four cases of the selection of garnet or a specific garnet as a state gemstone. Connecticut and New York both have an unspecified garnet as state gemstone, and the Vermont has selected grossular garnet as their gemstone. Idaho uses star garnet as their Idaho gemstone.

Topaz: Two states have elected topaz as state representative gemstone, Utah, with an unspecified topaz, and Texas with the Texas blue topaz.

Jade: Three states include jade among their state natural resources and have selected it to represent the state. Alaska has Jade as the state rock, California has jade as the state stone, and Wyoming has nephrite jade as the state gemstone.

Beryl Gemstones: The beryl family includes several named gemstones, including aquamarine and emerald. Colorado has aquamarine as their state gemstone, and North Carolina has the emerald as the state gemstone. New Hampshire specifies beryl on general as the state mineral.

Other Precious Gemstones: Diamond is the state gemstone of Arkansas, and can be found there. The Yogo sapphire is the state gemstone of Montana. Benitoite crystals are the gemstone of California.

Turquoise: Turquoise is much favored by the residents of the Southwest as a material used in the jewelry made there. Turquoise is the state gemstone of Arizona, the semi-precious state gemstone of Nevada, and the state rock of New Mexico.

Other Gemstones: Black coral is the state gemstone of Hawaii, while black fire opal is the state precious gemstone of Nevada. Fluorite is the state mineral of Illinois, and Rhodochrosite is the state mineral of Colorado. Both of these can be made into beautiful beads. Tourmaline is the state gemstone of Maine, moonstone if the state gemstone of Florida, and Oregon sunstone is the state gemstone of Oregon.

Each gemstone can be found within the boundaries of the state which honors it, as least in small deposits. Look for these state gems and minerals as you travel through the US, and see how many you can collect.

Go to the Table of Contents to see all the topics covered so far.

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