Have you ever been to a museum where they had a giant crystal the size of a wall? Have you ever wondered what kinds of minerals can fit inside your everyday home while being modest? This post will introduce you to mineral collecting as well as help you find new kinds of minerals you may not have known existed.
First off I recommend you find a type of mineral that you like, and start building your collection off from there. The reason for this is so that you have groupings of minerals, and not have a clutter of various colors that can detract the color quality of each mineral. At this point, you may be wondering why I have been using the term mineral rather then crystal. This guide will show you methods on collecting crystals, as well as some metals, and optical minerals, and polished minerals. Because of that, I will be using minerals to show that there are multiple things you can collect.
Clockwise from purple, Amethyst,
Rutilated Quartz, Rose Quartz, Citrine, Quartz(Normal) , Smokey Quartz,
Crystal guide
If you like crystals more then the other, then start out with a crystal that you like and start looking out for crystals at various bead shops, or hobby stores. I get most of my crystals at Von's Bead and Card shop in West Lafyette, but you can find some in various hobby and craft stores as decorations. There are two common ways you can go about your collection. You can pick crystals of a very similar color, or you can pick crystals of a similar structure. When I say similar structure, I am referring to the general makeup of the crystal, and picking crystals that vary only slightly from each other. For instance the image to the right are all variations of quartz that have an additional element added to the base make up.Metal Guide
Top row Pyrite
Left to right: Bismuth, Copper, Galena
While collecting metal might not seem the most prudent choice of mineral collecting, it is surprisingly as in depth as collecting crystals, and can be far more random in color quality. Metals, if cooled properly, can actually form crystals of their own and make intricate patterns that vary per metal. Bismuth when cooled properly will make very shiny rainbow colored material that varies in color. A more dangerous metal, but vibrant, would be Galena. Galena may sound foreign at first, but when you pick up a sample you may notice a familiarity with another very heavy toxic metal. Galena is a combination of oxygen and Lead, which gives it a a very nice blue shine to it, and is noticeable by its very dense nature. A picture of Galena, Bismuth, and Pyrite is to the right with Bismuth being the mineral on the bottom left and Galena on the bottom right. There is also a rounded ball of copper in the middle.
Optical Guide Calcite
You may be aware that several evil masterminds used crystals to power their lasers, but did you know there are many crystals that change appearance just by the angle of light? The most common crystal that does this would be Tiger's Eye, and on the picture to the right is a sample of Tigers eye (the brown and gold one) and other types such as Hawk and Bull's Eye. Another type that changes as you look at it would be Labradorite, which changes light very similarly to Tiger's Eye, but can change to every color of the rainbow rather then just one shade per variant. There are some crystals that change what you actually see, the most common being Calcite. It appears to create a double image in the crystal which is most clearly demonstrated by placing on a page of lettering. Another optical crystal type is called Florescent crystals. These crystals will glow under black light, and Phosphorus crystals will glow after being exposed to black light. Examples of these crystals are shown in the images below.
Left image: Tigers Eye, Labradorite in corner
Right images: Mineral with Black light on then off
After seeing the various types, don't that you are limited by only these types. There are plenty of other minerals that you can collect, and each one has their own superficial beauty, after all everyone has their own tastes in how things should look. Also don't expect to find the best samples when you find a shop that sells crystals. Many times they shop will have one or two very good minerals, and then the rest would be mediocre. There are a lot of people who collect minerals, and the people that collect the most unique and larger ones will travel, and then those people will sell smaller minerals to those shops. This means that a lot of times those shops will be picked clean. Don't let that discourage you from starting your collection as many crystals that look amazing, were actually really inexpensive and fairly common to find. Most places that sell minerals will have a quartz, pyrite, and Tiger's Eye section set aside. So don't fret if you do not see any of the crystals above, as it takes more specialized shops to carry things like florescent and phosphorescent minerals.
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