[Rockhounds] Numbering Specimens (WAS: Paint)

[John Siebel]

Hi All,

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm getting a start on organizing a huge 
amount of unlabeled specimens. But I'm hitting a mental gridlock when it 
comes to numbering them. Where to start? Do I simply grab the first one I 
see and give it the honor of being #0001? Should I start with the more 
impressive specimens and work my way down from there? Should I work 
chronologically from earliest collected to most recent (although that sounds 
unlikely)? How to deal with multiples (like the dozens of 
stilbite/calcite/quartz from XYZ Quarry)? Do they all get the same number?

I'm also consider sub-classification (if that's the right term), fossils 
being  f-0001 or 0001-f  for instance. But I can see that getting pretty 
whacky with the rest of the collection. Any thoughts?

Perhaps Julie's OCD is rubbing off on me but I want to start this process in 
a logical manner so I'm not tempted to redo it at a later date. Like that 
will ever happen!

Thanks for any input - John