Learning Center What is a mineral?The most common minerals on earth Information for Educators Mindat Articles The Elements The Rock H. Currier Digital Library Geologic Time

Minerals by Properties Minerals by Chemistry Advanced Locality Search Random Mineral Random Locality Search by minID Localities Near Me Search Articles Search Glossary More Search Options

The Mindat Manual Add a New Photo Rate Photos Locality Edit Report Coordinate Completion Report Add Glossary Item

Mining Companies Statistics Users Mineral Museums Clubs & Organizations Mineral Shows & Events The Mindat Directory Device Settings The Mineral Quiz

Photo Search Photo Galleries Search by Color New Photos Today New Photos Yesterday Members' Photo Galleries Past Photo of the Day Gallery Photography

Discussions

💬 Home 🔎 Search 📅 Latest

╳Discussions

💬 Home 🔎 Search 📅 Latest

Groups

Recent Images in Discussions

Fakes & FraudsFake azurite?

10th Nov 2017 19:13 UTCAshley Wolf

Hi everyone,

I've registered on this site because I need your advice on this expensive piece of 'azurite' I bought. It was sold to me (total newbie in minerals) as a collector's quality stone.

Once I got home with it, it started bleeding colour onto my hands, and when I accidentally dropped it today, this is what I see underneath.

My question is: is this azurite, a diffferent type of mineral (not azurite) or could this be a coat of paint or what? I'm very lost!

10th Nov 2017 19:16 UTCAshley Wolf

-- moved topic --

10th Nov 2017 19:21 UTCWayne Corwin

Welcome to Mindat Ashley !

You could try soaking one area in water and then acetone (nail polish remover) to see if it's a dye.

It looks odd to me, but report back with your findings.

10th Nov 2017 19:23 UTCScott Rider

What you have is a painted rock of some sort. What I can definitely say is that is NOT azurite unfortunately. I really couldn't tell you what you really have other than it doesn't even look like a copper-mineral, let alone azurite...

10th Nov 2017 19:28 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder

Yes, it's a fake. Sorry.

10th Nov 2017 19:45 UTCAshley Wolf

Ok I feel like a real fool.

Could you gentlemen look at this next picture and tell me if you think THIS is azurite?

10th Nov 2017 19:55 UTCWayne Corwin

Yes

10th Nov 2017 19:58 UTCAshley Wolf

Thanks Wayne and all.

Guess I'll be checking in regularly before I make any more purchases. Now that I've read up on your website, I should have been tipped off by the number of USD200 pieces of andara emeralds/sapphires she had. Just read here that that is just plain old coloured glass.

I'm going to go cry now. Thanks again everyone!

10th Nov 2017 19:59 UTCAshley Wolf

Will I risk a lawsuit by posting her Etsy and eBay name here so everyone can avoid her?

10th Nov 2017 20:09 UTCAshley Wolf

Just to finish this topic: the nail polish remover on a cotton bud comes out blue. Guess that's that.

10th Nov 2017 20:12 UTCMatt Courville

Hi Ashley, better late than never to ask questions to more trustworthy individuals.

See it as a positive - what if you had dropped a 'real piece' of nice azurite? ;)

10th Nov 2017 20:19 UTCAshley Wolf

haha, thanks for the positive spin, Matt.

10th Nov 2017 20:38 UTCOwen Lewis

Ashley, don't weep - get your money back from the fraud seller (no, not an exchanged piece but your money returned). Even good dealers can't check every single piece that passes through their hands but they are keen to keep a valuable reputation as an honest dealer. In cases like this, a god dealer wil be pleased to hear from you and want to report the fraud - for that is what it is, it's no accident or mistake - back upstream the their supplier (who will also have a good reputation to protect). If the cash refund is not immediately forthcoming, complain to Etsy which should resolve the matter for you - or close the miscreant's Etsy account.

Do please let us know how you get on.

10th Nov 2017 21:56 UTCDebbie Woolf Manager

Its nice to see another Wolf on here ;-) I hope you get your money back, fingers crossed.

10th Nov 2017 22:32 UTCOwen Lewis

@Debbie,

But you are a wolf in sheep's clothing :-) One of your male relatives is/was a peer and legal luminary (Master of the Rolls)?

10th Nov 2017 23:46 UTCDave Owen

Your second photo looks like a fairly nice piece of Milpillas azurite. Did you buy that one too?

11th Nov 2017 02:10 UTCOwen Lewis

Dave Owen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Your second photo looks like a fairly nice piece

> of Milpillas azurite. Did you buy that one too?

With minor malachite?

11th Nov 2017 05:56 UTCDoug Daniels

The crystallized one - yeh, azurite. Hope you bought that one. The other, yeh,....fake, they got you on that - hope you can get your money back. Reminds me of a gold nugget I bought in Colorado in a September. The shop was shutting down for the winter, they had this nice nugget for $25. I bought it... kinda knowing it was fake. Many years later, I tried a density test - and it leans more towards lead than gold.....as I suspected. I want to do more tests, but, hey, $25 for a fake, which can be used to teach others.....

11th Nov 2017 09:16 UTCAshley Wolf

Hi everyone!

Yay, I showed the seller the comments here and she gave me an immediate refund and said she confronted her supplier. Apparently his answer was that azurite is so delicate, he grinds up the azurite and makes a reconstituted coating on limestone so that the healie-feelies (picked the term up here!) can hold it for meditation purposes. My reply was: you can sell whatever you like but full disclosure is necessary. This just isn't 'collector quality azurite'. I know everyone is going to shake their heads at this: it was USD190.

Yes, the second picture is what I've bought from

a seller in Arizona. It's supposed to be from Millipas (sp!). I haven't received it yet. I'm never buying another rock without checking here first.

Hello Debbie! You'll need to visit Switzerland. Plenty of Wolfs here.

Regards,

Ashley

11th Nov 2017 09:57 UTCAshley Wolf

Ok, I'm not sure if I should have said healie-feelies, so I'm going to change that to meditation peeps. I have a whole family of them, so they know I'm just making fun if I say stuff like that but I don't want to offend anyone on this informative site.

The family is partially why I'm chasing a piece of azurite. It's supposed to have some sort of amazing energy, I want to make a gift of it at Christmas time.

And just randomly, here is a piece of fossil opal I picked up for my brother's present. It's so pretty I want to share it with you.

Ash

11th Nov 2017 13:42 UTCMatt Courville

Hi Ashley, rather than asking about each potential purchase on the messageboard, you might want to try looking at the site locality to compare photos of what you would like to buy, to where the seller states it comes from. Mindat has quite a lot of places to compare.

If they don't match well, or if the seller does not give information about where the mineral comes from (the more specific the better) than pass on it unless it's dirt cheap;)

11th Nov 2017 14:47 UTCAshley Wolf

Thanks Matt. I'm already reading through the website and learning a lot.

11th Nov 2017 14:55 UTCDave Owen

Actually what the guy said sounds like a load of crap. There is no reason to do what he did except for deceptive purposes. Azurite is not that delicate when in a massive form. She should be looking for a new source. A piece of azurite that is in that form ought to sell for, in my opinion maybe 10 dollars.

13th Nov 2017 10:34 UTCAshley Wolf

Hi everyone,

Just posting pictures of my new azurite. Looks great. All's well that ends well. Refund + new rock!

13th Nov 2017 14:59 UTCOwen Lewis

Very nice! Enjoy :-)

14th Nov 2017 13:14 UTCRolf Luetcke Expert

Ashley,

Just read the thread with interest. We have been in the mineral business for close to 50 years and have come across so many fakes in our time. Some I had to really study to be sure.

A close friend likes to purchase multi hundred dollar pieces he has not seen before. We looked one year at his new purchases and three were fakes. The people who fake the things are getting so much better at it that it takes a lot of experience to be sure on some. New manufactured quartz, fluorite, silvers and many more are hard for the beginner to tell.

Got a "galena geode" that a fellow had in his collection and had not seen anything like it before but many red flags went up. It was so dirty I put it through the sonic cleaner and when viewed under the microscope the glue used had become a bit soft and the crystals inside moved when pushed a bit. They did a heck of a nice job on it but it just didn't fit with what it was.

Ashley, it is all a learning experience and the friend who had three new fakes learned a valuable lesson and now looks into something he has not seen before plunking down the money.

Shame but on the internet there are a lot of fraudulent products out there and buyer beware is the key.

The second one is a nice piece, did well on that one, now only watch for price on things you purchase.

Welcome to a great site.

Rolf

6th Aug 2018 22:53 UTCHaley Middleton Ashley

Same problem with my piece I just found this out today while taking the price tag off to get ready to wrap it. When tag came off it was crumbling so I immediately got an alcohol wipe to test for dye and low and behold it’s dyed. Found this post and will be using it as comparison when I go to the shop and get my money back. Mine wasn’t as much as yours only 6USD but it’s the principle. Don’t sell something that’s not what you claim it is.

7th Aug 2018 00:39 UTCWayne Corwin

Haley

First off... Welcome to Mindat !

Second... What did they claim it was?

Third... bring one of those 'wet-nap' packages with you and test before buying.

Of corse, this won't show everything,,, but eleminates some poor fakes on site.

Mindat.org is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2024, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: April 19, 2024 09:11:32

Go to top of page