Help with crystal identification

Lola_Wolfe

I have some crystals from my childhood that I'm having difficulty identifying and wanted to see if anyone could help. ****EDIT***** Unfortunately I can't post attachments so instead could someone recommend good websites or books with pictures to help me? I have The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall.
 

jolie_amethyst

[edit: I saw the links before they were deleted] It looks like you'll need to put them on a different site for us to be able to view them; something about that one isn't posting correctly--looks censored with asterisks. :)

You could try uploading them to imgur, they don't require an account to do so. Then you can paste the links here. Other sites you can upload to would be Flickr and Photobucket.

This site has helped me for tumbled stones. http://rocktumbler.com/polished-stones/ It won't help with crystals in their natural state though.
 

Lola_Wolfe

That site is amazing as well!
 

jolie_amethyst

You have some lovely pieces there! Hopefully we can get you some answers.

I can take a stab at a few.
#1 looks like what's known as a selenite rose or "desert rose selenite".
#3 probably sodalite, but could be lapis. A close up would probably help so that those who are good at differentiating between the two can get a better look.
#4 is actually also probably sodalite--it's not as common to see it in white with blue as the blue is what's prized. I have one like that too though, and while I'm lousy at sensing energies, that particular stone called out to me from a 2 pound lot of stones, most much prettier, and I carried it around for quite a while after. It now lives on my nightstand, and is one I pick up for calming or stress. So for what that's worth, it seems to carry the same traits as the more popular pieces.
#6 *might* be amethyst, I've seen a couple of tumbles like that, but it's such a bright purple with such solid looking white that I kind of wonder.

If you have larger images of your crystals, I'd suggest posting them. In a lot of cases, two kinds of stones may look very much alike in a small lower resolution picture.

Good luck with ID'ing all of these!
 

Tanga

The photo's are small and it is difficult to see the stones clearly so...

1 Calcite
2 Chrysocholla and/or malachite (has it green and black banding as well as blue in it?)
3 Sodalite
4 Sodalite (unless they have gold specks in them - then they are Lapis. that's the difference between Sodalite and Lapis)
5 Possibly Adventurine
6 Amethyst
7 Jasper

8 ? Rhodochrosite
9 Agate
10 ? Rhodonite
11 ? Looks like a man-made glass like thing? would need a closer look.
12 ? Can't remember the name of this stone

13
14 13 and 14 are the same stone in different colours - is it an agate?
15 Turquoise? Variscite? Blue Howlite?
16 Green calcite
 

Lola_Wolfe

Thank you so much, this helps a lot. I really appreciate you both taking a look. It's funny I have a ton of other ones that I've bought recently and always make sure I know what they are, but all these are from my childhood when I used to collect rocks and shells. Funny how they are such a big part of my life now, and back then I just thought they were pretty rocks. They are more special to me because I picked them based on what I was drawn to when I was young, naive and innocent. Here are the bigger pictures.

1) http://imgur.com/dgTCEpy
2) http://imgur.com/Tb8TUUq
3) http://imgur.com/rftC2mY
4) http://imgur.com/7w4Va4t
5) http://imgur.com/AW1dmAp
6) http://imgur.com/JzIuZr3
7) http://imgur.com/L4V0uju
8) http://imgur.com/HYvDRHx
9) http://imgur.com/qi98DGD
10) http://imgur.com/Er5DmEa
11) http://imgur.com/3EWkG6V
12) http://imgur.com/tmnM8q6
13) http://imgur.com/s94uhdK
14) http://imgur.com/r8iOHJ2
15) http://imgur.com/f0CgHXc
16) http://imgur.com/EtEsve4
 

Tanga

1 That's a dessert rose (Gypsum). I have one.
8 Some kind of agate
11 OK - never seen that before :)
15 Most likely dyed howlite (it's white - often dyed blue).
 

Lola_Wolfe

Thank you again Tanga! Your input is very helpful. And right?! Number 11 has always thrown me off, I myself am wondering now if it was man made though I always just found them in the wild or bought them in the gem section of a store (mostly in Maine). It doesn't look or feel like glass... I'm lost with that one. Might have to take it to an expert or get it tested someday!
 

Aster Breo

My best guesses, which are never great when based on pics ;-) :

1. Desert rose/gypsum (Don't get that wet. It'll dissolve.)
2. Not sure. Maybe chrysocola? (sp?). Maybe a jasper that's been dyed? I don't think it's malachite.
3. Sodalite
4. Sodalite
5. Aventurine?
6. Amethyst
7. Jasper
8. Agate
9. Calcite or quartz
10. Rhodonite?
11. Don't know. Maybe a dyed jasper? Maybe some kind of dyed sandstone conglomerate?
12. Sugilite or charoite
13. Agate
14. Agate, dyed?
15. Probably dyed howlite, but, if it's more than 30 years old or so, there's a slim chance it could be turquoise.
16. Flourite or calcite

Again, these are just guesses.