Aside From Coins, Do You Have Any Other Hobbies?

I think I've posted previously about my rock collections, recently I have been neck-deep in the world of amber fossils. Here's one of my favorites, a 100 million year old bird feather.

 

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That's cool!

 

That's a great piece. May I ask where you got it? Is that amber?

 

@non_cents There should be a "stunning" button.

 

Yep, that LEGO catalog has come a loooong way from 1970 or so when I was an enthusiast...

 

It is myanmar amber aka Burmite, which is dated to ~100 million years ago. Just about all my pieces have been acquired off ebay.
Here's the current collection, and a closeup of the top left piece in the closest frame.

 

I think I am going to DEMAND a stunning button.

 

Stunning, absolutely stunning. You have some nice pieces there. Somewhere in this thread are a few of my rocks and fossils.

 

Now I see I just used the same word you did, stunning. Need I say more?

 

Amber w/ Fly

I also gave my wife an amber ring with an ant in it.

 

This is my 1959 Gibson Les Paul custom. I love it.

 

I just bought this off Ebay. Redline super chrome Porshe P-911 vintage Hot Wheel car. It has decent original paint still...

 

I was surprised I didn't recognize that car, then saw the date on the bottom. By 1974 I'd moved on from Hot Wheels to the chemistry set.

 

By then it was the 1980's and I was into cars and girls.

 

Photographing small inner worlds. I'm still on a learning curve.

 

Looks like a dyed agate.

 

As I am sure most of you know, in the process of selling off my collections, I selected a small number number of my favorite Roman Imperial coins to keep and admire until I depart this mortal coil. I did a similar thing with my other collections. I kept one Napoleonic wars flintlock pistol:

Napoleonic Wars British Light Dragoon Pattern Officer private purchase flintlock pistol. circa.1810

.67" caliber, 9" barrel length, 15" overall length, brass furniture

One piece steel ram rod with elaborate spring retainer

Royal crown inscribed on flat lock plate

Acanthus leaf decoration on reinforced cock and lock plate tail.
No Ordnance stamps on lock plate indicates this gun was not consigned to the Ordnance Store. Barrel markings and a rolled-up paper (source unknown) found in the barrel indicate it was made by London gunsmith, William Dupe (circa. 1798-1813).

This pistol was privately purchased by a British Army Officer, (they had to provide their own personal arms and accoutrements during this time) during the Napoleonic wars and the 1812 War with America. Privately purchased pistols were produced by most British gunmakers throughout this period in accordance with prevailing ordnance patterns but featured nicer wood and overall better fit and finish.

This model pistol was much favored by Prussian officers, and the Duke of Wellington provided several of them to Field Marshal Blucher, upon his personal request, for use by his officers at the battle of Waterloo.





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Nope, 100% natural colors, from Morocco.

I've been collecting agates and other minerals since 1966. Dyed agates are of one color, sometimes with varying hues, but the colors are very bright, almost garish, and certainly not natural. Because of the way the coloring minerals, primarily iron oxides, are deposited by successive waves of silica, a wide variety of colors are possible within a single specimen. Artificial coloring can only be achieved in one dominant color, be it red, blue, yellow, violet, etc., and as I said, these colors in terms of brightness and hue, just don't occur naturally.

Additionally, artificial coloring can only penetrate the surface of the stone. If a polished, artificially colored stone is cut, a totally different interior color, or lack of colors, as if often the case, is revealed.

Here's another example of a Moroccan agate, from Pintrest:

 

Mandelbrot Rock...

 

…………… some additional pics I forgot to include: