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Amber

JBL

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Does anyone collect amber with insect and plant inclusions? I recently started and have a few really nice specimens. If anyone wants direction on reputable sources, I can help. There is a lot of fake material out there. One suggestion is an E-bay seller called TerraTreasures. They also have a website www.terratreasures.com. Many pieces are pricey, but at auction you can get some good deals. They start some specimens at $1.01 with no reserve, and I bid and won nice items under $30.
 
I have a kid who would be interested in something like this. What is the age of that piece?  I don't know that you are able to date it but maybe the seller did. We did a quickie search on amber and found this website-
http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/amber.htm
You might want to check it out.  It looks neat.

Also found these-
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/amber/
http://mist.npl.washington.edu/AV/altvw27.html

And are you sitting down... I just found a dead bug club-
http://members.tripod.com/~Snakefly/

I have one little piece of amber that I believe we bought a long time ago in South America. It is rather non descript and has no where near the appeal of the piece you bought on eBay. If I recall I bought it because I liked the way it felt and the color was warm. I haven't seen it in a long time but I think it was oval shaped.
 
Ok, true confession here.  I'm a member of the Dead Bug in Amber Club.  Go to the site and you'll see my name 'Joe Lavrich' as a member in commerce--that means I was dopey enough to buy stuff.  I have a certificate.  If you want amber for your son, go to www.ambericawest.com.  They have weekly specials that appear usually on Mondays were you can pick up cheap specimens.  The Dominican piece you saw is over 20 million years old.

BTW the piece you have from South America is probably copal--not nearly as old as Dominican amber, but still very cool.
 
Nope, that bug boy doesn't need any more collections. Trust me on this one. Aside from that, he's broke until he gets more birthday money the end of this month. I did like reading about the amber though and so did my husband who is a collector at heart.

I stand corrected, the piece of amber came from either Barbados, Trinidad, or Tobago. I just found it. I haven't looked at it in years. I remembered it being more attractive than it actually is but that might be because I just saw the photo of the piece you bought at eBay.
 
Here's another amber piece I picked up. This is relatively big for amber--about 2" diameter. Cool looking piece--I'm not sure if paleoentomologists really examined it at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, but...it makes a good story.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....MEWN:IT
 
Ha ha ha! Looking for your name at that site was like "looking for Waldo" but sure enough, you are a bona fide member of the Dead Bug Club in good standing. Don't feel too bad, we were members here for a few years ago when we first purchased "Rosie" and then bought "Roxie".
http://www.midwestrats.org/

There, do you feel better now?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LauraZ5 @ April 03 2005,12:29)]There, do you feel better now?
Much better--now I can finally sleep...
 
Oh no....

That's rather pricey. Pretty, but very pricey. Now don't go off and lose interest in CPs now ya hear!
 
  • #10
No way would I lose interest in CPs! First, amber does not grow. And you're right, it can be very pricey, but take a look at all the specimens by that seller and you'll see that it is in the lower range. How about one with a pseudoscorpion for $8,500? If I spend that, I want a real scorpion by gosh
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  • #11
Nice pieces.
I collect fossils. I really like the bugs in amber and thought about getting a piece or 2 as I do not have any. I like to find my own rather then buying them. There is aways an excitement when you find a nice piece.
I did some research last year and they are a few sites in NJ that people have collect amber from.
I posted this some time ago here, but here's link to some of my fossil pictures. (Not 56K friendly)
http://www.geocities.com/elgecko1989/fossils.html
 
  • #12
I collect gems, rocks and fossils as well. Always wanted some amber, but can't manage get some over where I live because the prices in the *bookstores* would blow a hole in my pocket.
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I think Tamlin collects rocks too. Speaking of him, where is he? Haven't seen him around lately.

Anyone ever seen the ones at Collectors Corner in australia? No coincidence that they sell cps too, what d'ya think I was looking for when I ventured into that site?
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  • #13
[b said:
Quote[/b] (elgecko @ April 03 2005,1:52)]Nice pieces.
I collect fossils. I really like the bugs in amber and thought about getting a piece or 2 as I do not have any. I like to find my own rather then buying them. There is aways an excitement when you find a nice piece.
I did some research last year and they are a few sites in NJ that people have collect amber from.
I posted this some time ago here, but here's link to some of my fossil pictures. (Not 56K friendly)
http://www.geocities.com/elgecko1989/fossils.html
If you can point me in the right direction to those NJ sites I would appreciate it. Every reference I found talked about 'closely gaurded' sites--sounds like CPs, right?
 
  • #15
I'd gladly trade him an amber specimen if he answered now.  Hey, I may even give him one just to get him here again.  I remember sending him gemmae for distribution way back in 2003-2004, but I thought I saw posts from him since then.

Well, I wasn't on for a long time myself, and I see he answered a question March 10 of this year about gemmae shelf life.

Update: I PMd Tamlin with an offer of amber
 
  • #16
Here's a good amber site from Emporia State University in Kansas.  It describes a lot of the sources.  I go to a couple rock & mineral shows every year and have watched amber prices drop like a stone during the past decade.  Especially for those with insects.  So, if what you want seems a little pricey now, wait a year or two.
 
  • #17
Thanks for the tip about dropping prices. Maybe I can pick up a pseudoscorpion for $4,250 rather than $8,500. Drop like a stone was very clever.
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  • #18
I like amber as well although I don't have a good piece yet.  Still looking for the right one.  I collect rocks and minerals and also a few fossils so amber falls into those categories.   I love included rocks (or amber).  
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  I had my eye on a piece of amber with an enhydro.  I've been getting into enhydros lately....reaaaaally fascinating!

Enhydros are rocks (or amber) that have chambers inside full of fluid, gas and/or carbon (plant) material.  I just recently purchased some awsome Tibetan quartz loaded with carbon which floats around in large chambers.  The material inside is about 133 million years old!   Its pretty cool looking at fluid, gas and plant material that is THAT old and captured forever inside a rock.  You can turn the rocks around and watch the bubbles move around in the water and the carbon float around.  Its sort of like a prehistoric snow globe.  
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I'll have to check out those amber links.  I look on eBay but haven't found the right one yet.  Preferably a Dominican piece.

And William is around a little bit but has largely withdrawn from public life. He is pretty much getting out of the plant thing unfortunately. But he is heavily into collecting rocks, minerals and gemstones right now. They are a tad easier to maintain than plants.
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I'll tell him you all were asking about him. He'll appreciate that.
 
  • #19
I want a good peice of watermellon tourmoline...
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Tibetan quartz loaded with carbon which floats around in large chambers. The material inside is about 133 million years old! Its pretty cool looking at fluid, gas and plant material that is THAT old and captured forever inside a rock. You can turn the rocks around and watch the bubbles move around in the water and the carbon float around. Its sort of like a prehistoric snow globe.
im guessing your not talking about real quartz, what material are you reffering to?
 
  • #20
It was disturbing to this geologist that I didn't know the word enhydro, so I googled the word and found this site -http://www.gamineral.org/enhydros.html.  This says PAK's quartz enhydro is a pretty cool inclusion, not an enhydro.
 
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