Napoleon North Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 IIs it black amber? Floats in water. I do not know maybe the colored part of the crumbled. Smells of resin. Size : 3-4 mm x 5mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Inquiry revealed two rarer types of opaque Baltic amber that are dark brown or black - stantienite and beckerite. So if your piece passes the standard "amber tests": floats in salt water, takes a static charge, impervious to acetone, smells of "pine" when touched with a hot needle it is safe to call it amber. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napoleon North Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 Floats in salt water and has a resinous smells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 In my experience amber only smells of pine if burned (hot needle). If your piece has the smell of resin without burning then perhaps it is modern. A test of this would be to see if a drop of acetone makes it "sticky." Amber is sufficiently polymerized, as to be impervious. Copal and modern dried resin will become sticky on exposure. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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