Amber?!?

[jnicholes]

So, I was going through my rock collection, just going through memories, because the guy who gave me all the rocks died in 2018.

 

I found these at the bottom of the box. I remember he did not give these to me. In fact, I found these somewhere in Idaho, but I can’t remember exactly where.

 

They look like amber, so I shone my UV light on them. Sure enough, they passed that test.

 

I am posting pictures under regular light and UV light. I am pretty sure it’s amber, but I want a second opinion.

 

What do you think?

 

Jared

[Randyw]

Im having my doubts. I havent heard of amber coming from idaho. I strongly thinking its on of the other amber colored crystals that flouresce. For instance calcite etc. id move on to some of the other amber tests before id be comfortable calling it amber…

[Rockwood]

Touch it with the head of a heated pin. Amber will release a fragrant smell.

[jnicholes]

Good morning everyone! I took everyones advice and did multiple other tests. Here’s my report:

 

It did not pass the salt water test. In fact, it sank very slowly. It did not float, however.

 

It did pass the rubbing test, I was able to get it electrostatic charged, and it was able to pick up one of my hairs that I picked off of my head for the test.

 

The hot needle test was interesting. I happened to break a small piece of the amber off for this test. It was very easy to break, my teeth did the job easily. However, it left us very weird “taste“ in my mouth. When I did the hot needle test, I could very faintly smell something. I am unsure if it passed this test or not.

 

As previously mentioned, it passed the UV test.

 

I hope this helps. Maybe I will take it to someone who knows gems very well if need be.

[Rockwood]

45 minutes ago, jnicholes said:

I am unsure if it passed this test or not.

Hate it when that happens.

[Plax]

If it burns with the pin it is probably amber or just modern pine sap. If Idaho has coal mines in Cretaceous or later deposits you can probably have amber. You can't break most minerals easily with your teeth. If it taps on your teeth like plastic it may be amber.

[jnicholes]

2 minutes ago, Plax said:

If it burns with the pin it is probably amber or just modern pine sap. If Idaho has coal mines in Cretaceous or later deposits you can probably have amber. You can't break most minerals easily with your teeth. If it taps on your teeth like plastic it may be amber.

Hang on, let me try that pin test again and see if it burns it.

[jnicholes]

OK, it did tap on my teeth like plastic. As for the burn mark, it was VERY small.

[jnicholes]

After further review, the previous theory does not stand. It is not amber, but VERY hard pine sap. It got sticky after the needle test.

[Crusty_Crab]

Amber vs copal vs sap is an artificial idea that humans (specifically, those involved with the amber trade who wanted to market their product to stand out from copals and resins) came up with. There is no point at which sap magically crosses a barrier and becomes copal, or which copal simply becomes amber. As a scientist, these are all resins of varying ages, and they can provide information regardless of age. Even if it is not amber in the commercial sense, it is still valuable from a scientific standpoint as long as you have the context of where it was found. 

[jnicholes]

21 minutes ago, Crusty_Crab said:

Amber vs copal vs sap is an artificial idea that humans (specifically, those involved with the amber trade who wanted to market their product to stand out from copals and resins) came up with. There is no point at which sap magically crosses a barrier and becomes copal, or which copal simply becomes amber. As a scientist, these are all resins of varying ages, and they can provide information regardless of age. Even if it is not amber in the commercial sense, it is still valuable from a scientific standpoint as long as you have the context of where it was found. 

Good point!

[Rockwood]

1 hour ago, jnicholes said:

It got sticky after the needle test.

I'm not so sure that's true. For Baltic amber at least. It's quite deformed where I tested some.

The top section with a big beetle in it was a massive fail.  But one is not supposed to test that. (In their theory apparently) 

[Randyw]

6 hours ago, jnicholes said:

After further review, the previous theory does not stand. It is not amber, but VERY hard pine sap. It got sticky after the needle test.

Putting aside the amber/copal/resin controversy…( wich would fill volumes and probably end up getting the topic locked, banned, and buried in the basement) I think you’ve answered your own question. Old resin and copal are sometimes found in idaho. And from your test results and observations i suspect youve got a piece of old sap / young copal there. By the way amber has a MOHS scale hardness of 2-2.5