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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

11/13 George Reese 11/18 Peggie Raines 11/16 Therese Frank 11/25 Maria Handzus 11/17 Quanerlum Fox 11/28 Virginia Webb

President’s Message Greetings Fellow Rock Hounds, Believe it or not, I saw a fully lit and decorated Christmas tree in a neighbor’s window on my way to work this morning and that can only mean one thing: It’s time for the annual Mont-gomery Gem and Mineral Show!! We need every club member to come out and help put this show on. So please mark your calendars for December 1-3, 2017. It takes every club member to put the show on. We will need volunteers to run the information desk, help with the dealers, take money at the front door, set up and put on demonstrations, etc. Our next club meeting is scheduled for November 21, 2017 and it will be a fun time. We need everyone to show up and start help plan all the activities it takes to put the show on. We will be filling the gift bags for the Wheel of Fortune at the meeting so please bring extra any rocks, specimens, fossils, etc. We will also be signing up for the dealer’s potluck dinner on Thursday December 1, 2017. And we will be signing up slots for volunteers to put on the show. So please attend this very important meeting. We will cater in a sandwich tray, and have drinks and snacks for refreshments. With the passing of Mr. Sonny Hall last month, we are looking for a flint knapper to put on a free demonstration during the show. Anyone who knows anyone that can volunteer and con-tinue the legacy of Mr. Sonny, please let us know. And remember, it takes every club member to put this show on. We need your help please! Chris Rutherford, President

Inside this issue:

Program Corner

Birthdays President’s Message

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Meeting Minutes

Article

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Articles 2

Field Trippin’

Article

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Articles 4

Shows & Reminders

Links

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Club Information 6

PROGRAM CORNER

When: November 21, 2017 Where: Mureal Crump Center, 1751 Congressman William L. Dickinson Drive, Montgom-ery, AL 36109* Time: 7:00 P M What: Bagging rocks for Wheel of Fortune Who: * Park in back. Enter through single glass door. Meeting room 1st door to left.

MONT GOMERY GEM & MINERAL SOCIET Y

THE GOLDEN

NUGGET

REFRESHMENTS

Snacks : Chapy’s Deli Drinks: Dave Niedziesky

Please remember to bring paper plates, napkins, and cups. Ice is available at the community center. It is your responsibility to find another member to substitute in the event you are unable to fulfill a month for which you signed up. List for remainder of the year:

Snacks Drinks

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HOW TO SHOP AT A GEM SHOW BY JOHN MARTIN

MONTGOMERY GEM & MINERAL MINUTES

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THE GOLDEN NUGGET

The minutes from the October meeting were not submitted in time

of the newsletter publication.

If anybody has ever wondered about how to prepare for rock and gem shows, here are a few tips. First, do not come with empty pockets. Never come with a mindset of “I didn’t want to tempt myself” as some people have said and then run across once in a lifetime special pieces of jewelry (or whatever) they’ve always wanted and had no ways to make their purchases. Bring more than just your credit card. Bring checks, and most of all, bring plenty of cash. At gem shows, like flea mar-kets, yard sales, and private vendors in general, cash is king. Most dealers prefer it, and in cases of bargaining, they are likely to offer more generous discounts for it. Checks are the second preferred option. Credit and debit cards, of course, are accepted, but keep in mind that processing them costs a considerable percentage ranging from about 2.5 to as much as eight to ten percent, especially with small purchases. As a result, dealers will often balk at accepting sales of less than $20, offering good discounts, or waiving the sales tax, which in Montgomery is a hefty ten percent. Some cards have a limit on the number of purchases that can be made in one day, no matter how small. And some locations have signal difficulties that force the vendors to go outside to swipe the cards. Bring a written wish list, especially if there are specific things you really want. Show it to every dealer. Nearly all of them have stuff under their tables because of lack of display space. Nearly all will dig them out if you are serious. Tell them what types of items you collect or desire. Many will show you things you might otherwise overlook or never even get to see. Browse carefully and thoroughly. Look at every dealer’s merchandise. It is very easy to miss great deals if you are too hasty. You might find some booths that appear to have nothing of your interest, but you never know what lies under the tables. Some might appear to have only jewelry, but the mineral specimens are out of sight. Some might display only expensive specimens and stash their rough and slabs. Show your wish list to every dealer. Talk to every one. If you have something to sell or swap, bring it. Some dealers might be willing to buy or trade. Have a good time and really enjoy the show.

Congratulations to all of the members that entered pieces in the Ala-bama National Fair this year and placed a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place rib-bon. Here are just a few of the members that I know placed ribbons: Myself (Therese Frank) placed 1st in Beading, 1st in Wire Wrapping and 2nd in Cabochons Sherry Shaffer placed 1st in Copper, 2nd in Beading, and in Wire Wrapping, 3rd with her lighten-ing struck sand glass tube (a very interesting piece if you have not seen it) Leslie Amato placed 1st in Cabochons. If you place a piece and won a ribbon send an email with pictures of your pieces to goldennug-get2016@gmail.com and I will put it in the December newsletter.

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An Official Field Trip of the Emerald City Rock and Gem Club (Greenwood, SC Host)

Saturday December 9, 2017

9:00 am to 2:00 pm EST

Diamond Hill Mine

Anterville, Abbyville County, SC

Fee $20 per adult 18 and up, $10 Teens and Seniors, $5 children 12 and under

The month of November has two beautiful gems that represent the birthstones. They are Citrine and Topaz. These are also the Zodiac stones for Sagittarius (Nov 23 - Dec 21). Topaz is a dynamic birthstone that can be a multitude of colors from blue to an intense red / orange while the Citrine birthstone is found only in orange. For anyone born in the month of November either of these gemstones make the perfect gift. Not only does it show that thought has been put into the gift but it shows that the long lasting nature of the birthstones is a symbol of long lasting friendship.

Topaz Birthstone

Topaz can range in color from colorless, blue, champagne, yellow, orange, red and pink. Topaz can be found in many ancient artefacts and talismans because of this fact.

Topaz has often been confused with Quartz because of the similar colors. The Champagne colored Topaz was often mistaken for Smokey Quartz. With modern testing techniques it is easy to distinguish between the two minerals. Topaz is most readily found as a beautiful blue color. These gems have undergone a special treatment using irradiation that changes the color of the Topaz from a brown into the bright beautiful blue. This is a widely accepted treatment and every blue Topaz should be assumed that it has been treated this way.

Topaz is one of the defining minerals of the MOHS scale. It has a hardness of 8 and it is one of the hardest gem-stones.

There are two varieties of Topaz that deserve their own mention. These are precious Topaz and Imperial Topaz. Precious Topaz is the intense yellow Topaz that is mainly fond in Brazil. Imperial Topaz was originally found as red crystal in Russia and later found in Brazil. These are the most expensive types of Topaz and will demand a high premium.

Citrine Birthstone

Citrine only comes in an orange color and is part of the Quartz family.. Citrine ranges in color from a soft yellow right up to the intense fiery orange that Citrine lovers try and find. It is a very durable and strong gemstone because it is part of the Quartz family it comes in at a 7 on the MOHS and is perfect for wearing as birthstone jewelry because it is so durable.

Citrine is a very common gemstone with the major sources originating in Brazil, Africa and some parts of Span. It is not uncommon to find huge Citrine gemstones.

This article was taken from the following website:

https://www.gemrockauctions.com/learn/birthstones-by-month/november-birthstone-citrine-and-topaz

F I E L D T R I P P I N ’

NOVEMBER BIRTHSTONES TOPAZ AND CITR INE

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Jasper From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or chalcedony and other mineral phases,[1][2] is an opaque,[3] impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to iron(III) inclusions. The miner-al aggregatebreaks with a smooth surface and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and snuff boxes. The specific gravity of jasper is typically 2.5 to 2.9.[4] Along with heliotrope (bloodstone), jasper (green with red spots) is one of the traditional birthstones for March. Jaspilite is a banded iron formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper.

Etymology and History

The name means "spotted or speckled stone", and is derived via Old French jaspre (variant of Anglo-Norman jaspe) and Latin iaspidem (nom. iaspis)) from Greek ἴασπις iaspis, (feminine noun)[6] from an Afroasiatic lan-guage (cf. Hebrew ישפהyashpeh[7], Akkadian yashupu).[8]

Green jasper was used to make bow drills in Mehrgarh between 4th and 5th millennium BC.[9] Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Persian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek and Latin.[10] On Minoan Crete, jasper was carved to produce seals circa 1800 BC, as evidenced by archaeological recoveries at the palace of Knossos.[11]

Although the term jasper is now restricted to opaque quartz, the ancient iaspis was a stone of considerable translu-cency including nephrite.[2] The jasper of antiquity was in many cases distinctly green, for it is often compared to the emerald and other green objects. Jasper is referred to in the Nibelungenlied as being clear and green. The jas-per of the ancients probably included stones which would now be classed as chalcedony, and the emerald-like jas-per may have been akin to the modern chrysoprase. The Hebrew word may have designated a green jasper.[12] Flinders Petriesuggested that the odem, the first stone on the High Priest's breastplate, was a red jasper, whilst tarshish, the tenth stone, may have been a yellow jasper.[13]

Jasper is an opaque rock of virtually any color stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash. Patterns arise during the consolidation process forming flow and depositional patterns in the original silica rich sediment or volcanic ash. Hydrothermal circulation is generally thought to be required in the formation of jasper.[citation needed]

Jasper can be modified by the diffusion of minerals along discontinuities providing the appearance of vegetative growth, i.e., dendritic. The original materials are often fractured and/or distorted, after deposition, into diverse pat-terns, which are later filled in with other colorful minerals. Weathering, with time, will create intensely colored super-ficial rinds. The classification and naming of jasper varieties presents a challenge.[14] Terms attributed to various well-defined materials includes the geographic locality where it is found, sometimes quite restricted such as "Bruneau" (a can-yon) and "Lahontan" (a lake), rivers and even individual mountains; many are fanciful, such as "forest fire" or "rainbow", while others are descriptive, such as "autumn" or "porcelain". A few are designated by the place of origin such as a brown Egyptian or red African. Picture jaspers exhibit combinations of patterns (such as banding from flow or depositional patterns (from water or wind), dendritic or color variations) resulting in what appear to be scenes or images (on a cut section). Diffusion from a center produces a distinctive orbicular appearance, i.e., leopard skin jasper, or linear banding from a fracture as seen in leisegang jasper. Healed, fragmented rock produces brecciated (broken) jasper. While these "picture jaspers" can be found all over the world, specific colors or patterns are unique, based upon the geographic region from which they originate. Oregon's Biggs jasper, and Bruneau jasper from Bruneau Canyon near the Bruneau Riv-er in Idaho are known as particularly fine examples. Other examples can be seen at Llanddwyn Island in Wales.[15]

The term basanite has occasionally been used to refer to a variety of jasper, a black flinty or cherty jasper found in several New England states of the US. Such varieties of jasper are also informally known as lydian stone or lydite and have been used as touchstones in testing the purity of precious metal alloys.[16]

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International Colored Gemstone Assn newsletter http://www.gemstone.org/ Georgia Meteorite Association http://www.meteoriteassociationofgeorgia.org/

William Holland www.lapidaryschool.org Wildacres http://www.amfed.org/sfms/wildacres-retreat.html Al Mineral Locality Index http://www.mindat.org/rloc.php?loc=Alabama%2C+USA GIA http://www.gia.edu/3954/gia_home_page.cfm http://www.greatdanepro.com/somewhere%20in%20time/index.htm educational sources for young rock & mineral collectors and hobbyists KidsLoveRocks.com http://fossilsforkids.com/ http://www.mineralcollecting.org/ FL Museum Natural History (fossils) http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/collections/overview/ AMERICAN LANDS ACCESS ASSOCIATION, INC. (Protecting the Public Lands for the Public; A grassroots 501-C-4 Educa-tional, non-profit organization dedicated to keeping public lands open for the public http://www.amlands.org/ Gemstone List http://www.gemstoneslist.com/ Arizona Geological Survey http://www.azgs.az.gov/minerals.shtml SMITHSONIAN http://www.mnh.si.edu/ Gemstones International http://www.gia.edu/ Ben Clements Mineral Museum http://www.clementmineralmuseum.org/

http://www.montgomerygemandmineralsociety.com/

L I NK S TO CH E CK OU T

REMINDERS

• Please let Mary Belmont or Virginia Webb know if a member needs a get well card or any other communication for which a card is appropriate.

• Bring spare rocks, gems, minerals to any meeting in order to prepare for the Wheel of Fortune.

• Show your recent acquisitions at the monthly meeting so other members can experience a varie-ty of different materials.

• NOTE: the shop can be opened on Saturdays 1-4 by appointment with Leslie Amato.—Call by Friday afternoon to determine if Saturday is convenient.. David Grant will also open the shop on Wednesdays at 5:30 if you call him at462-7105 by Tuesday evening.

• Shop fee :$1 per hour or $5 maximum. • Be sure to read your monthly copy of the LODESTAR which is emailed. • Member input is not only desired but also needed. Communicate program requests to Peggy

Raines. Tell Jeff Edwards if you know of a potential site for a field trip. Talk to any officer or board member regarding the need for a class.

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Movable Egyptian ring in green jasper and gold, Goat-headed basket carved from red jasper. Russian, late 19th century, Kremlin Armoury from 664 to 322 BC or later (Late Period),[5] the Walters Art Museum

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The purpose of the Golden Nugget is to inform members of news about gems and minerals along with news about club, state, and regional activities of interest to our members. Most important, the Golden Nugget provides a way for each of us to share information about projects and to pass on tips that will help others enjoy our hobby. Unless members are willing to contribute, the Golden Nugget cannot meet this latter purpose. Copyright 2016 by Montgomery Gem & Mineral Society, Inc. Except for items that are specifically copyrighted by their au-thors, all material in this bulletin may be freely copied. Please give credit to The Golden Nugget and the appropriate author. Meetings of the Montgomery Gem & Mineral Society are held every 3nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the Mureal Crump Adult Center, 1751 Congressman William L. Dickinson Drive (U.S. 231), Montgomery, AL 36109. The annual gem show replaces the December meeting. Anyone interested in gems and minerals is invited to attend. Field trips, workshops, and classes are held at various locations. These are announced at monthly meetings. Membership dues are $15.00 for individuals and $20.00 for families residing in the same household. The Montgomery Gem & Mineral Society is a member of the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. and the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies, Inc. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have ex-pressed a prior interest in receiving this information.

General Information

MONTGOMERY GEM AND MINERAL SOCIETY

Club Officers for 2016 President: Chris Rutherford 334-372-2507 1st VP/Programs Committee: Delores Osborne-Hensley 2nd V P/Field Trips: Jeff Edwards 312-0572 Secretary: David Sherrod 201-4460 Treasurer: Iris McGehee 262-7275 Directors: Chris Evey and Leslie Amato

Board meetings are at 6:30 pm immediately before the monthly meetings.

THE GOLDEN NUGGET

Official Voice of the Montgomery Gem & Mineral Society, Montgomery AL

Therese P. Frank, Editor thegoldennugget@hotmail.com

The Golden Nugget 17 Glenview Street

Montgomery, AL 36110

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