FOR THE Love OF Sand! Become a Psammophile!

While rock and mineral collectors often seek the biggest crystal ever, true wonders exist at the microscopic level.

MINING New Jersey

The History of the Franklin & Sterling Hill Mines

THE PERFECT 640

As a renaissance in jewelry and lapidary work has been taking place, it's a perfect time to focus on faceting.

STONES for Love

What to Give to those Special in Your Life

BRACHIOPODS: SEASHELLS OF THE ANCIENT SEA FLOOR

Brachiopods are one of the most common and recognizable fossils found around the world.

Pink Opal

For many years, the only deposit of pink opal was found in Peru. Then in 2011, Glenn Archer of Australian Outback Mining discovered a new find in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, just east of the coastal town of Carnarvon.

The Rumbling, Bone-Tumbling

"Coo" of T. Rex

Top 10 Magenta Rocks

Lapidary Materials to Celebrate the Pantone Color of the Year

To Find the Beginnings of Complex Life on Earth

Search Life Living Today!

A New Tale for the Ankylosaur Tail Club

They weren't just for clobbering T. rex, after all!

THE CURIOUS LORE OF George Frederick Kunz

America's First Gemologist

ICELAND SPAR: THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS

In Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, author Lewis Carroll used the title phrase as a metaphor for peering into a world where nothing was quite what it seemed. When it came to understanding the mysterious nature of light, the \"looking glass\" for early scientists was optical calcite or Iceland spar.

Gold & the Hard Rock Summit Show

The Hard Rock Summit Show has become the top fall mineral show in Denver around which other shows have clustered.

EXPLORING Fantastic Cavems, Drive-Through Cave

Plus a Bucket List of Caves for the Physically Challenged

The LA BREA TAR PITS: A Journey to the Ice Age

Los Angeles is the land of palm trees, movie stars, Malibu and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

U.S. Rare Coin Market Continued to Soar in 2022

The market for rare United States coins enjoyed a banner year in 2022 with many price records set for individual coins, according to an analysis by CDN Publishing, publishers of the Greysheet family of numismatic market price guides. “Continuing the momentum from 2021, we estimate the overall U.S. rare coin market exceeded a record $6 billion in total volume for the year in 2022,” said Patrick Ian Perez, CDN vice president.

KEEPING YOUR COINS SAFE WITH Victor J. Gonzalez

Victor J. Gonzalez has been involved in the insurance industry since 1985.

What Modern U.S. Commemorative Dollars Are the Best Buys?

1996-D OLYMPIC HIGH JUMP UNCIRCULATED DOLLAR TOPS THE LIST

The Risks & Rewards of BULLION DEPOSITORIES

There was a time when the bullion industry spawned relatively few colorful news stories, but things have changed, and drama from the world of bullion has lately been spilling into the general media.

Bullion DOESN'T HAVE TO BE Boring!

What images come to mind when you think of bullion products — stacks or boxes full of gold American Eagles, silver American Eagles, Maple Leafs and bars? There are hundreds of bullion products available in all different sizes to fit everyone's budget.

The Two-Step Process of COIN CERTIFICATION: Authentication & Grading are the Keys

For a coin to be certified, it has to be both authenticated and graded. Certification by a grading service is a two-step process.

Lydia: THE BIRTHPLACE OF COINAGE

For thousands of years, people acquired and exchanged goods through a barter system. Early forms of money, to make large transactions quicker and more efficient, included objects such as shells and oxen, but these were found to be cumbersome and not durable. Eventually, gold, silver and bronze ingots were exchanged by weight.

Who says Lincoln Cents are PENNY-ANTE $2.86 Face Value in Pennies Sells for $7.73 Million

What's likely the highest-quality collection of Lincoln Head Cents ever assembled, 286 coins, has been auctioned for a record $7,731,811 by Great Collections, one of the world's leading rare coin auctioneers based in Irvine, California.

Ichthyosaur Birthing Resembled that of Gray Whales

Prepare for a New Era of Boots-on-the-Ground Exploration

Filling Earth's Oceans with Water

One Meteorite at a Time, Per One Smoking Gun

The Magnetic Field of Mars

Life Would Have Depended on It

Bye-Bye, Glaciers?

Concerns about the loss of glacial ice vary. Downstream from the Himalayas, one billion people depend on run-off from existing glaciers to fill their rivers and meet their water supplies.

Dinosaur Mummies

Perhaps More Common Than Imagined?

Raised in a ROCK SHOP

The Influence of Rock Collecting & Lapidary While Growing Up

Geoengineering Earth's Oceans

From Science Fiction to Science Fact