The grab bag consists of a mix of stones to start your collection.  Some of each of the stones listed below and perhaps something extra!
WILL CONTAIN at LEAST:
Apache Tear, Holey Stone, Agate, Garnet, Moonstone, Iron Pyrite ("Fools Gold"), Gypsum, Quartz Crystal,   Fossilized Coral, and ???*

WHEN YOU ORDER THE GRAB BAG YOU WILL GET A SMALL SAMPLE OF EACH TYPE OF STONE TO SEE WHAT EACH STONE IS LIKE.  EACH STONE IS IN ITS OWN BAGGIE AND LABELED! JUST A FUN MIX.  I MAY FIND SOMETHING AROUND HERE THAT I DECIDE TO ADD IN AT THE LAST MINUTE.

(*or the equivallent... you won't be disappointed)

These stones came from my friend Jay in Mt. Ida.  I love Moonstone, and he had them to offer.  I thought they would be excellent starter stones.  

They are "in the rough".  Some have flashes of the "adularescence" that are more easily seen then others.  Most you have get wet in order to see it, and most you have to view in bright light.  (I tend to lick my rocks.  This is not recommended.)  If you are a licker, best that you wash them VERY well in soap and water and a toothbrush.  AND KNOW YOUR STONES (see below!!!)

Just the same, for the record, I recommend that you do not lick your stones.  Stones can be potentially dangerous.  Some stones are RADIOACTIVE, some stones have high LEAD content, some can be POISONOUS.
*************** 

MOONSTONE
MOHS' 6.0

MOONSTONE $1.00

websource:www.gemstones.nowmore.net

ABOUT THIS PYRITE:
Again, these stones came from my friend Jay in Mt. Ida.  They are sparkily and really cool looking.  They have a heavy feel.  I thought they would be excellent starter stones.

Named from the Greek, pyrites lithos, "stone which strikes fire," in allusion to the sparking produced when iron is struck by a lump of pyrite.

It is a very heavy stone, and is composed of about 46% iron, 53% sulfur

Again, these stones came from my friend Jay in Mt. Ida.  I love the feel of smooth stones. These are river tumbled, and found in the river bed, according to Jay.

They feel wonderful in your hand, cool to the touch, not silky, but sort of a mat finish.  I love these.  

Most are rounded, some have a sort of cylindrical shape like tourmaline.  There are some shaped like fluorite crystals, and with my research, I can't find that Topaz comes in this shape.  I am wondering if these pieces might be fluorite that fell into the topaz  (there were a few amethyst points in there so it is possible).

The word "topaz" was derived from the Sanskrit word "tapas" which means "fire".

Although today topaz is generally thought of as a blue stone due to the abundance of the color, historically, red and orange topaz was more common, and when one mentioned topaz, they were referring to a yellow or orange stone.

Topaz is a gem that is very often optically clear, so stones with good clarity are available and they are often faceted for jewelry.

Blue topaz is found in nature but it is generally quite pale in color and is rarely available in finished gemstones.  

These pale blue topaz are the kind found here on the website.  there are also some light yellowish ones.

Most of the darker/brighter blue topaz found in jewelry today has actually been irradiated and heated from colorless or light brown topaz to get the bright color.

Comes from: Brazil, Pakistan, Mexico and Nigeria

WHEN YOU ORDER THE TOPAZ YOU WILL GET ONE OR TWO LARGE OR SEVERAL SMALL PIECES

These obsidian nodules come from Superior Arizona, and were freed from such a Perlite matrix before they were tumbled by my grandfather to get their smooth glassy sheen.

Some of them still have some of the Perlite in the crevasses, you can see them in the photo.

LEGEND OF THE APACHE TEAR: The name Apache tear stems from a legend regarding the Apache tribe. In retaliation for raiding an Arizona settlement, the U.S. military trailed the offending band of about 75 Apache warriors and launched a surprise attack against them. Nearly 50 died in the first volley of shots, and the rest leapt over a cliff rather than allow themselves to be killed. The Apache tear stones are supposedly the tears that their wives and families shed for them.

Although obsidian nodules can be found in many Western U.S. localities, the term Apache Tear should be attached only to those glassy obsidian nodules found beneath the cliffs of Apache Leap Mountain in Arizona.

Obsidian is mineral-like, but not considered a true mineral because it is not crystalline.  It is sometimes classified as a mineraloid.

due to this there is no listing for a MOHS' scale, but window glass is 5.5 to 6

These agates are among some of the agate that my Granny and I picked up off the beach in California.  
Some are what she picked up on her travels elsewhere. Some have been tumbled in a rock tumbler, some are natural.

Agate is actually considered "quartz", and so is  not a valid mineral "species" in and of itself.

According to "gemstones.nowmore.net": Agate is a term applied not to a distinct mineral species, but to an aggregate of various forms of silica, chiefly chalcedony. (pronounced cal-sid-ney).

These agates were tumbled by the sea, some were tumbled in a rock tumbler.

There are many varieties of agate and they can be distinguished by their color and banding and other characteristics such as dendrites (fern-like patterns) and plumes, etc).

WHEN YOU ORDER THE AGATE YOU WILL GET ONE OR TWO LARGE OR SEVERAL SMALL PIECES

These Fire Agates were cut and polished by my grandfather.  

They begin their life as regular looking rocks. Not very pretty, actually.  I saw a bucketful one time.  I got excited when my Grandpappy said, "here's a bucket of Fire Agate."

But when I anxiously peered over the edge, I was disappointed when I saw what looked like a bunch of lumpy brown rocks in a 5 gallon bucket.  Actually, I thought they were kind of "yucky" when I saw them, but I was a kid, and my expectations hadn't been met.

To get a polished fire agate, first you have to slice them into thin slabs. Next you draw circles on the slab, where you think the fire is. (Sort of like cutting cookies out of a rolled out piece of dough).  

Then, using something sort of like a jigsaw blade, you cut out the "cookies".  When the "cookies are cut out, then you fix it to the end of a stick so you can polish it on a wheel.

In order to get the best fire, you have to polish it very carefully, because if you polish too deeply, just one millimeter, you can ruin the stone.

The colors in some of these stones vary from yellow to orange, green, red and even purple.

These stones aren't premium jewelry quality, but they will have at least a little bit of fire.

Layered agate with inclusions, which cause the stone to be iridescent.

Chalcedony with iron oxide begins to grow on any available surface (the iron oxide gives the basic brown color to the gem). As the solutions began to precipitate and grow layers of silica and iron oxide would be deposited depending on the relative level of those elements in solution and underlying conditions. These alternating silica and iron oxide layers (Schiller layers) cause the brilliant fire in the gem. As iron oxide ran out in the solution colorless chalcedony continued to grow.

ABOUT THIS GARNET:
It is some that my Grandfather polished.   They began their life as rather rough round stones (like pocked berries).

He told me how hard the stone was and that these are so small because to polish out the pits in the stones, they get smaller and smaller.

They are translucent, but some are so deep dark red that they look almost black.  I have some that got mixed in with a few very small apache tears, and they only way I can tell if they are garnet or obsidian is to hold them to the light.  The obsidian is usually translucent enough to show some of the brownish/black through.  The garnet usually is too dark to even let the red show!

The garnet took months and months to tumble.  You start with large grit and as you tumble them down, you take them out and reduce down to a finer and finer grit size until they are smooth and shiny like these.

The sound of the rock tumbler drove my Granny nuts.  It was probably the garnet!  

I recall the few quiet days when she would sit in her recliner rolling her eyes back under slowly closing lids in blissful  ecstasy, she would lay back, and breathe in the sweet sound of silence.

The name garnet has been used since ancient times. It was derived from the Latin word granatium which means a pomegranate because small, red garnet crystals were thought to resemble pomegranate seeds. (fun factoid: The original name given this mineral group was granat. In time the "r" and "a" were transposed giving us garnet.)

A garnet tends to break into small pieces with sharp angular and uneven faces which is regarded as a characteristic feature of a good abrasive. Garnet, therefore, is valued as a natural abrasive.

There are 6 minerals which make up the garnet family: Grossularite, Pyrope, Almandine, Spessartite, Andradite, and Uvarovite.

After some researching, I have decided this garnet is Pyrope due to these characteristics which these stones match exactly:
COLOR: red to reddish purple and sometimes a deep enough red to appear black
TRANSPARENCY: crystals which are transparent to translucent
LOCALITIES: include Europe; Arizona and New Mexico, USA; South Africa and several Australian sites.   (my grandparents found these in the mid-West)

WHEN YOU ORDER THE GARNET YOU WILL GET SEVERAL SMALL PIECES

GARNET $5.00

ABOUT THIS GYPSUM:
This also is some from Jay in Mt. Ida.  I thought it was interesting.  Good starter stone.

GYPSUM $1.00

This is an excerpt used by permission from an e-mail sent to me from a self proclaimed "geology geek" friend of mine with regards to how having knowledge about the stones you buy is very important.
(A MILLION THANKS TO YOU JUDI!)  

If you don't know about the  stone, then ASK the person you are buying it from.  If THEY don't know anything about it, it might be best not to buy it from them, or research it before you make that purchase.

Here's what Judi said:

"For example, I  was at a local rock show and saw a young boy pick up a gorgeous orpiment specimen, show it to his younger (3 yr old) brother, and ask his mom if he could buy it. She glanced over, saw a pretty orange-red rock, and said, "Sure, honey."

I butted in and  said, "Excuse me, do you know what that rock is?" She looked down at the label and said, "Orpiment?"

I said, "No, I'm  sorry--what I mean is, do you know that orpiment is arsenic ore? That the rock your son is holding is 60-75% pure arsenic? And that it's highly toxic and should never be handled with bare skin, much less ever put in a kid's mouth?"

I picked up a  Realgar specimen and said, "This one, too. Arsenic ore. Kids like them because they're bright red and orange, but they're poisonous and should only be purchased by adults."
 
Needless to say,  mom didn't let junior buy the rock--but there are lots of minerals out there that can be extremely useful to metaphysical healers (orpiment's a good one for treating cancer) but should never, never, be handled or made into tinctures. (Orpiment should be kept in a closed case, because as it oxidizes, it releases some of its arsenic molecules into the air we breathe.)

Take Cinnabar--I  saw some beautiful beads on e-Bay; white quartz with streaks of red cinnabar running through them. They would make a delightful necklace if it weren't for the fact that cinnabar is mercury ore and that mercury can be absorbed directly through the skin! Bad news!

People think all of  this stuff is regulated by some government body, but it's not. I'd hate to have someone injured or killed due to a lack of a tiny (but important!) bit of information."

WHOA!  Again, thanks for the info, Judi!

SO AGAIN... RESEARCH YOUR STONES !!!

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