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Fakes, Forgeries and Misrepresentations
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This page is a list of scams, fakes, forgeries and
misrepresentations that appear in mineral collecting market. Some of these fakes are
well known classics, some of them are very recent. I'm sure that every purchaser of
minerals, from the collector to the dealer, falls for a fake at some point in time.
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It could be an Emerald crystal glued into a Calcite matrix and covered with mica at
the base, or a green colored Glauberite/Calcite that is colored that way from a dip
in a vat of copper solution.
Many of these are not fakes, but rather misrepesentations of items to make them sell
better, mainly to the metaphysical crowd. It is not our place to deny anyone their spiritual
beliefs, but a mineral is a mineral. Sometimes the renaming of a mineral does not
really help to pass it off to the metaphysical crowd, but then again, how can someone
feel good about themselves for selling plain old milky quartz as the obscene
"Azeztulite", or making up a name for quartz with multiple inclusions, such as
"Melody's Stone" |
Specimen Courtesy The Collector's Edge Minerals Inc. Cleaning Lab.
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If you know of a scam, fake, forgery or misrepresentation that is not on this list,
please send it to Justin@The-Vug.com
so that it can be included, and so other collectors can
learn from your experiences.
To learn more about specific minerals, including their colors, crystal habits, etc.,
explore Mindat and WebMineral.
Also, for fun, you may want to check out this website that is devoted to fakes and scams on ebay;
Ebay Problems |
For up to the minute info on fake minerals currently on eBay & the internet, make sure you check out our ALL NEW
Fake Minerals Blog!
Aluminum and Magnesium
Some dealers are selling specimens they claim to be natural aluminum or natural
magnesium, taken from a mine. Beware! Aluminum and magnesium are too reactive to
survive in their native, metallic state for more than a few years. These "specimens"
are actually raw aluminum or magnesium (pure or alloyed) from a refining plant.
See also, Diaspore
Aqua Aura
| Back in the early 1980's, someone figured out that the same
plating process used on industrial grade quartz could also successfully be used
on quartz crystals and clusters. Thus the popular treated quartz called "aqua aura"
was discovered. The process involves placing the quartz specimen inside a vacuum
chamber and introducing a metallic element which is vaporized with high heat. The
vaporized metal clings to the quartz crystal surface creating a very fine coating of
color that is near impossible to remove. |
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The most popular elements used are gold
(which creates a blue color), titanium (which creates an opal like rainbow effect)
and indium (which causes a violet hue). While most people might turn up their noses
at this treatment of quartz specimens it is interesting to discover some facts about
why this is a useful thing for the mineral community! First of all, a little known
fact from Si and Anne Frazier: some forms of twinning in quartz crystals is very hard
to detect unless the crystal is coated with this treatment.
the chamber.
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The layer of element makes
the twinned faces stand out where they didn't before. In addition in order for quartz
to survive the brutal pressurized element treatment it must be a strong quartz point
to begin with. If there are any inclusions or flaws the quartz will explode inside.
So each piece of quartz must be hand-selected and put under a pressure
test to make sure it isn't going to fall apart during the process. After the treatment
the clusters tend to be a little brittle, so be careful when handling your treated
clusters! Other treatments are known to produce a rose color, a gold color and a
funky brightly rainbow iridescent hue that was very popular in the 80's. |
Azeztulite
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This is one of the simplest scams out there.
Azeztulite is just plain old, ordinary, common quartz. Scraps of quartz, often milky,
dull, and broken, are proclaimed (often by the metaphysical crowd) to have some
special properties.
Justin tells the story on FakeMinerals.com
Read the Wikipedia Entry about Azeztulite
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Bismuth
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It is hard for any novice to look at one of these
specimens and not be impressed. Of course, when you flip them over and see the post
hole in the bottom you might get the notion that these are not what they seem to be.
Bismuth does occur in nature, but usually as amorphous ("without crystal structure")
lumps with dull grey color and often accompanied by yellow or green oxidation
products. |
Sometimes they can be found as casts after quartz crystals like in
Australia, or as tiny (3 mm) crystals. However, the more common, large, iridescent,
hoppered crystals are manufactured in labs (or even on a kitchen stove) by allowing
"supercooled" liquid bismuth to crystallize. Many of them are labeled as being from
Belgium or Germany. The reason for this is that the Germans have the technique
down so well that they can grow large specimens that are lighter in weight than
other samples made elsewhere. The more they weigh, the more they are sold for, so
the thin, lightweight clusters from Germany and Belgium are very popular, as bismuth
isn't terribly cheap.
| If you want to buy these popular gift items be sure to check
around for the best price. They are man-made so they are very common. Use Google to
search "bismuth crystal" and see just how plentiful they are.
Laboratory-grown bismuth crystals, illustrating their characteristic hopper
shape and irridescent coloration.
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Carborundum
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This spikey, irridescent material is not natural.
Most specimens are man-made silicon carbide, manufactured for use as an abrasive,
or when gemmy, as a diamond simulant. It occurs naturally in meteorites, where it
is called moissanite. The localities for these "specimens" may be Mexico,
Schenectady (New York) or others. Do not confuse carborundum with corundum
(aluminum oxide) or its colored varieties ruby and sapphire.
Man-made carborundum has a distinctly spikey appearance. |
Cermikite or Tchermigite
This is not a natural mineral, but instead is
probably laboratory-grown chrome alum (aluminum chromium sulfate) or (less commonly)
regular, colorless alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) which has been crystallized in the
presence of a dye. Crystals are deep purple, usually octagonal, sometimes with edge
modifications. Other laboratory grown specimens of different colors have also been
called cermikite. Usually ascribed to Poland or Romania. Not a common fake, but appears
to be growing in popularity, especially on eBay.
Cermikite (alum) crystals, grown in the lab on rock matrix. |
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Chalcanthite
Striking, deep blue crystals of "chalcanthite"
(copper sulfate) have been a popular scam on eBay in the past year or two. While
chalcanthite does occur in nature, it is usually as a blue massive or crusty material.
Lab-grown chalcanthite |
Well-formed crystals of more than a few millimeters are exceptionally rare. On the
other hand, it is quite easy to grow these "chalcanthite" specimens in a lab.
(The owner of this web site has done this many times.) Under the right conditions
the crystals can reach several inches in size. The "chalcanthite" specimens are
ascribed to locaties in Brazil, China or Poland. Avoid dealers who cannot or will
not provide more details. |
Natural Chalcanthitie |
Lab-grown chalcanthite |
Baked Citrine
Baked Citrine |
It is common to see these clusters and geodes
available for sale in gift shops and online the world over. But be aware, these are not
true Citrine crystals. True Citrine is mostly a lemon color, very light in appearance. Even
the most richly colored Citrine crystals are not anywhere near the color of these baked Amethyst
clusters. Our advice...stay away from any dealers that A) Don't know this and B) Don't option
to share this information with you. There is so much Amethyst in Brazil that they
needed to come up with additional marketing tools to help sell the B grade material.
One day someone figured out that if you take an Amethyst cluster and stick it in a kiln
to bake, it will turn a reddish/orange color. |
Baked Citrine |
Natural Citrine (Notice the difference in color!) |
Chinese "Diaspore" Crystals
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Simply foolish new scam out of China...Diaspore is a fairly uncommon mineral that can be faceted into
a gemstone on occasion. What it doesn't look like is these lab grown things coming from China.
Chinese "Diaspore" Cluster! Fake-Fake-Fake |
Fluorite Octahedral
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Natural, octahedral (eight-sided) crystals of
fluorite occur widely in nature, but rarely without some point of contact with
a host or matrix rock.
With a bit of practice, one can cleave or break fluorite
(usually massive or poorly crystallized material) along the octahedral cleavage
planes to produce sharp, flawless octahedra. These can be easily recognized because
they lack any evidence of previous attachment to matrix, as well as exceptionally
sharp edges where crystal faces meet. |
These flurorite crystals were probably shaped by striking a larger fluorite
lump with a hammer. They are not naturally-formed crystals.
Fossils from Morocco
If a fossil specimen from Morocco looks too good to be true, it
is. Morocco is the CAPITAL of fake fossil specimens and while certainly not all of their fossils
are faked, a good many of them are constructed out of polished specimens, resin, clay, matchsticks and
anything else they can use to make some convincing looking fossils. Even professionals get fooled.
What can you do to protect yourself? Not much I'm afraid.
Galena Geodes from Morocco
These things are hideous. Galena crystals and cleavages stuck inside a hollow
geode. Why is it that you only see these things being resold by Metaphysical dealers? Oh, it must be
because it vibrates to the number 22...Geesh.
Man-Made Galena Geode
Green Quartz
Lab-grown green quartz |
Green quartz can be produced in the lab by a
modification of the process used to manufacture large, high-quality quartz crystals
for electronics applications. The process involves heating the quartz with water
under high pressure. This causes the quartz to recrystallize. If other substances
are present these might be included into the new crystals. |
| For example inclusion
of chromium can result in deep green quartz. So, existing quartz clusters
(often with damaged crystals tips because these clusters are essentially worthless)
are heated with water under high pressure, producing clusters with new deep green
tips. These tips have a characteristic etched or stepped growth pattern.
The material is lab-grown and not produced in any mine, despite what some
dealers might want you to believe. |
Lab-grown green quartz |
Helidor "from Tajikistan"
Helidor is the gemmy yellow variety of beryl.
The pleasing yellow color can occur naturally, but it can also be produced by heat
treatment of blue beryl (aquamarine). In order to mask the origin of helidor
produced by heat treatment, some suppliers have created confusion concerning the
origin of this mineral. (The confusion may also exist to hide the mine from
would-be thieves, or to cover the activities of the the thieves themselves.)
Much of the suspect beryl is labeled as coming from Tajikistan, although this
locality is suspect. However, what would be the point of turning a beautiful blue
aquamarine from Pakistan into a yellow beryl?
Several very informative articles have been written on this subject:
- Tajikistan Heliodor (
Mineralogical Record, September-October 2000, volume
31, number 5, page 449)
- Let's Get It Right: Tajikistanian Heliodor (
Rocks & Minerals, July/August
2005, volume 80, number 4, page 285)
- The Mysterious Golden Water of Tajikistan (
Extra Lapis, 2005, number 7, page 61)
- Heliodor Revealed (
Mineral News, August 2005, page 12)
Hemimorphite (Dyed Aragonite)
Only the worst shadiest dealers will push this common
scam on you. Hemimorphite has been around the mineral world for ages, occurring in a
range of colors from colorless, white, green, blue and grey. Sometimes it has
inclusions that give it more colors, like the limonite included ones from Mexico
that have brownish/red lines running across the blades. However, in China a few
mines have been producing some very nice hemimorphite that is suitable for cutting
and cabing or just adding to your collection. However, whenever there is something
good people just have to find a way to make some quick money ripping people off!
Massive slabs of colorless or grey aragonite are common from China and when dyed
blue it can look somewhat like hemimorphite. The dyed aragonite has a smoother
look to it than natural blue hemimorphite. It can be identified by placing a drop
of common pool acid (muratic or hydrochloric acid) on the questioned material. If
it starts bubbling like crazy then you have a great chunk of dyed aragonite! (
Try the acid test with a piece of aragonite or calcite to see the bubbling.) This
is a very common scam and many people get fooled by this all the time!
Natural blue hemimorphite - note the texture. Specimens from Malipo, Malipo County, Yunnan Province, China
Jade versus Green Quartz
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A recent visitor to this web page told us that
a dealer had sold a string of green quartz beads as expensive imperial jade
(pictured right). After identification by a respected gemological laboratory,
the beads turned out to be nothing more than green quartz. This is a good reason
to be wary of buying expensive items from someone whose reputation is unknown to
you. It also suggests that you should consider having an independent mineralogist
or gemologist very the authenticity of any expensive and/or rare items you
purchase.
Pricey imperial jade or just green quartz? |
Malachite Pseudomorph after Glauberite
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A very funny scam that was brought about in the
mineral community over a decade ago and still going strong today! Camp Verde produces
a ton of glauberite crystals replaced by calcite. If you go to the location you
can leave with a bucket full of these crystals. If you place these crystals into
a bucket of copper sulfate solution in water (the same stuff used to make fake
chalcanthite) you get these really cool looking green glauberite crystals that
look like malachite pseudomorphs after glauberite! |
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| It has been said that near-by
copper deposits are the cause of this fake pseudomorphism, however, there are no
copper deposits near the locale. The late David Shannon first brought the attention
to this matter and called everyone out on it. These specimens still exist and
several have been offered for sale in the past few months advertised as the real
thing. So, buyer beware! |
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Glauberite crystals dyed with copper sulfate. Note the characteristic crystal shape.
Myanmar vs. Vietnam
Spinel, Myanmar |
Hey kids! Let's play "guess that locale"! Oh, you
would rather not play that game with your collection, eh? Well, not many people do.
However when labeling specimens from Vietnam/Burma/China and surrounding areas, that
game is always on! Here is how this happens: first of all, the US ahs imposed
trade sanctions on Burma, so Burmese material is not to be imported. This causes
many dealers to label the popular ruby, spinel and pargasite specimens from Burma
as Vietnamese. |
| Vietnam has it's own deposits of these minerals, so when you start
mixing up the locals to get around customs, you might get a Burmese ruby that is
labeled from Luc Yen Province, Vietnam. Or you might get a Luc Yen ruby sold to
you as Burmese, since they are thought to be worth more by some dealers. On top
of that many Chinese dealers visit Burma and Vitenam to buy items to sell in China
or around the world. |
Pargasite, Vietnam |
Some of the dealers will tell you material from Vietnam or
Burma is actually from China to protect their sources or perhaps to make their
material look new and exciting!
Nickel Crystals
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Electrodeposition of nickel (electroplating) is a
common enhancement for jewelry and other items. Correct electrodeposition gives a
smooth metallic finish with no discernable crystals. However, nickel crystals can
form on the wires used in the electrodeposition process. (The pictures show an example)
The wires are called electrodes, and they are usually copper. |
| In some cases these nickel-covered copper wires have been sold as "natural nickel crystals."
These fakes are easy to spot. Natural nickel crystals are exceptionally rare
(usually found only in meteorites), and when they do occur, they are very small
(a 1 mm natural nickel crystal is considered large). Even more obvious is the
copper wire core at the center of the "natural" nickel cluster! |
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Nickel crystals grown be electrodeposition are much larger than natural nickel crystals.
Photos courtesy of Alan Guisewite.
Pentagonite vs. Cavansite
Cavansite is a popular mineral due to its striking
blue color, usually on a white heulandite or stilbite matrix. Good cavansite specimens
can be had for ten or twenty dollars, while top-end specimens can cost a few thousand.
Pentagonite (second picture below) is a polymorph of cavansite. (A polymorph has
the same chemical formula but a different crystal structure.) Pentagonite and
cavansite are very similar in both color and crystal shape (pentagonite crystals
are generally more needle-like than cavansite crystals), but pentagonite is significantly
rarer. Pentagonite gets its name from its common habit of forming twinned crystals
consisting of five needles radiating from the same spot. Because cavanasite and
pentagonite may not be easily distinguished by a less experienced collector,
the "pentagonite" specimens sold by some unscrupulous dealers are really just
cavansite. Our best suggestion is to only buy a pentagonite if it looks really
striking in apperance. If it doesn't have really long (6 mm or more) needles
that are well-separated, why would you want to buy it anyway? Don't settle for an
ugly "pentagonite" and you most likely will not be buying a cavansite with longish
crystals!
More about cavansite vs. pentagonite.
Compare the crystal shape to cavansite: pentagonite crystals are needle-like.
Brightly colored Obsidian
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Obsidian has always been one of the mainstays of the mineral community,
with countless Obsidian arrowheads, "apache tears" and other Obsidian items finding their way into the hands of
kids around North America each summer. Obsidian comes in black, brown, gray and several combinations such as
white and black "Snowflake" obsidian and brown and black "Mahogany" obsidian. |
| What it DOES NOT come in is brightly colored Reds, Blues, Greens and the like sold by metaphysical dealers
and scam artisits. I can assure that most all colored obsidians are actually slag glass. If you don't believe
me that is fine, but don't say you were not informed! |
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Saffron and Other Dyed Okenite
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Be aware that okenite has now been known to be
dyed to "enhance" the already beautiful mineral's appearance! Okenite comes from
a few locations in India and from all of the locations it is white.
Sometimes it is rather dingy looking…but it is still white. Without any doubt, any colored
okenite you see available for sale is dyed.
Sales of these colored specimens
confused many people at first and the most common color (saffron or yellow) sold
for crazy money. However we have noticed that blue, green and purple okenite
clusters have been showing up on the market. EBay is a great way to get some great
deals on some good minerals and lots of sleepers, but it's also a good way to
get scamed by these unscrupulous dealers! |
Natural okenite is white. |
Dyed okenite can be many colors, such as saffron and blue. |
Silver
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At least one dealer on eBay is selling silver
"nuggets" that come "from deep within the mine" and are "0.999 pure silver." When
asked for specifics about the mine we are told it's in Nevada, but the name of the
mine or the county its in are not revealed. In addition, natural silver is an alloy
containing traces (or more) of other metals such as platinum, gold and copper, so
these "natural silver" nuggets of 0.999 ("three nines") purity are unbelievable. |
Natural silver also usually has a minor to deep grey or black tarnish. Bright, shiny
silver should be supect is having been cleaned or being a fake. These "silver nuggets"
appear to be little more than melted silver (with air bubbles visible in some cases,
and sometimes cast over bits of quartz to add the their "authenticity") or just
soldering metal. Pretty for what they are, perhaps, but worthless as mineral
specimens.
Faked silver "nuggets" |
Natural silver Specimen
Dzeshkazgan, Kazakhstan |
Radiated Smoky Quartz
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Quartz can come in all sorts of colors and forms, all caused by conditions
present during the growth of the pocket. Quartz is often found as dark "Smoky" colored crystals, due to radiation
from the radioactive materials present in the area. However, you can also take a clear Quartz crystal and turn it into
a black crystal by submitting it to a dose of radioactivity. It is common for large amounts of Arkansas Quartz and Chinese material
treated in this way each year. |
While it does look quite pretty, more and more locations of Smoky Quartz have been
discovered and the supply of natural Smoky Quartz is enough to drive interest away from this type of material.
We suggest buying natural Quartz and staying away from these specimens.In addition, please be aware that all those "Cavic" Romania Quartz crystals are also all radiated. The color will
disappear after exposure to sunlight for a prolonged time.
Tourmaline - Enhanced Hair Care Appliances
Tourmaline is a piezoelectric material: when pressure is
applied to a crystal, electrons migrate to one end, resulting in charge separation
(static electricity). This means one end of the crystal has a positive charge and
the other end a negative charge. The size of the charge depends upon the crystal and
the pressure. (This property was employed during World War II in an instrument to
measure submarine depth.) It is also pyroelectric, meaning that it develops charge
separation when heated. Certain manufacturers of hair care appliances (their exact
names will not be included here, but let's just refer to them as scam artists) have
incorporated tourmaline crystals into their hair dryers and curling irons, stating
(in essence) that the piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties of tourmaline will
improve the hair. This is just plain wrong Avoid buying any product that makes
blatantly false claims based on this pseudoscience hogwash. You can get an equal
effect (and save money as well) by simply taping a chunk of schorl to your hair
dryer or curling iron.
The only thing tourmaline enhances with hair care appliances is the wealth of their sellers.
Turquoise
Turquoise is a mineral that you have to be very
careful when purchasing. Try to only buy from reputable dealers, as many samples
of turquoise actually turn out to be fakes made out of powdered turquoise and epoxy
around a base of rock or lead core. Many samples of cutting rough we have seen
turn out to be a composite of powdered turquoise and glue! Be especially careful
when checking out the new supply of large turquoise nuggets coming out of China.
Large nuggets and masses of turquoise are known from the area, however the real
material commands a high price. Because of this the local unscrupulous dealers
will make composite masses of this material to pass it off as legitimate.
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One of the most common older ways to scam people was with dyed howlite (and now magnesite).
Howlite is often called "buffalo turquoise" and when placed in a 5 gallon bucket
with some "Tidy Bowl" toilet dye very nice "turquoise" can be produced. One of the
methods used by some to test if the chunk of turquoise is a chunk of plastic or
the real deal use a heated needle to see if the "turquoise" melts or not. |
| A heated needle will be able to penetrate some epoxy resin/turquoise mixtures! Beware when
buying any polished turquoise nugget! It is much easier to pass off fake turquoise
when it is impregnate with resins and epoxy and polished into these "natural"
appearing nuggets! |
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Check out this great new picture of Turquoise from China sold on eBay, smashed open.
Is it any wonder that the inside is just white epoxy!?! Buying minerals on the internet is fun,
but you have to watch extra careful on things from China and anything that looks too good to be true!
Thanks to Dan Davis for the picture! |
Real Turquoise
White Moldavite
Metaphysical sellers on eBay come up with some
really funny listings and names for minerals. This so-called "white moldavite"
in some cases is actually just calcite. It is in fact a calcite cleavage that
has been soaked in a dilute hydrdchloric acid to bring out a soft shine to the
lump of otherwise worthless calcite. In one case it was labeled as a penetration
twin, but what it really is penetrating is your wallet.
Zincite
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Zincite is indeed a real mineral, however it
occurs as a redish massive material and in crude solid crystals. Specimens of
outstanding quality come from the zinc mines of Franklin, New Jersey. These natural
specimens don't look anything like the lab grown zincite crystals that are reputed
to come from a smokestack of a smelter operation in Poland. |
| The most common story is that they came from a smelter smokestack when they were tearing down a section
of this closed down factory. However, if you look at the ton of specimens available
on the internet and on eBay, then add it to the mineral dealer's supply, the personal
collections, the ones that have been cut, the ones that have been dropped and
shattered into a million pieces and all the other ones we didn't account for…how
could all of these specimens have come from this occurrence? |
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No, these sharply-crystallized, gemmy, glassy zincite crystals, in several shades of green, yellow, red, orange and brown,
are not natural crystals, but grown in an artificial environment. It is very pretty,
but not natural and certainly not "investment material." |
Zircon
Here is a new entry to the list of scam sales on eBay!
Some Chinese sellers are producing these lab grown zircon crystals as natura;
crystals. A quick scan over eBay in the month of July in 2005 shows no less than
six different colors available for sale.
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Many have a sandy matrix that matches the color of the crystal. Like big chunks of "fakite," these lab-grown zircons are
only worth it for the fake cutting rough and if you like big fake looking crystals!
Natural zircons are much smaller and from most locations are not gemmy at all, but
rather blocky and crude. |
Zircon grown in a laboratory. Note the unusual colors and lack of crystal faces.
