[Rockhounds] Arkansas diamond hoax

[Earl R. Verbeek]

Tim Fisher wrote:  
 
Justin knows more about minerals than I will ever hope to know. He 
was referring to comments made by Becky the "host" of "Cash & 
Treasures". I agree, the mentality of that show is bass-ackwards. It 
should be about fun, adventure, family, getting dirty, etc., not "Hey 
what's THIS worth"? Every single valuation I have seen on that show 
was pure BS, except for the valuation put on one of Earl's fluorescent 
Franklin pieces by the museum (I forget which one) that she donated it
to.
----------------------------------------------------
 
I have to agree that the constant emphasis on monetary value is a
negative aspect of the show.  We were aware of this emphasis during
filming of the segment on Sterling Hill, and felt uneasy when Becky
would ask "What is this worth?" and we'd say "Oh, maybe $10 to the right
buyer."  She never did find anything worth a whole lot, and the best
find of the day was an attractive hydrozincite-calcite combo piece.  The
specimen that was finally selected for "official" valuation by the
California museum was no standout either, as reflected in the quoted
value.  I kept on wondering if we'd disappointed the Travel Channel
folks by not salting the collecting area or guiding Becky to a fantastic
specimen, but we played it straight.  Later, upon viewing other
episodes, it seemed to us that either Becky had fabulous luck or her
gold pans and shovels of dirt were helped along a little bit -- the TV
version of poetic license, I suppose.  But this is the U.S., home of the
almighty dollar (well, it used to be....), and the Travel Channel folks
are well aware of what clicks with the viewing audience.  The show is
not aimed at mineral collectors, who already know better.  In the end,
upon looking at the various shows, it seemed you could get rich
everywhere but Sterling Hill.  No wonder we don't have people breaking
down the fences at night.
 
FWIW, valuable fluorescent minerals are occasionally found at Sterling
Hill, as in a specimen of fluorescent genthelvite that sold for $1,000 a
few years ago.  The average per-specimen value, however, is probably
about two orders of magnitude lower than that.  As in most places, the
good finds are rare, and you're not going to get rich here by throwing a
bunch of rocks in a bucket and taking them elsewhere to sell.
 
About that statement that "Rocks do not glow in the dark", well, yeah,
some do.  Granted that you've gotta put them under ultraviolet light,
but when you do, a fluorescent mineral does indeed glow -- that is, it
is emitting light, not just reflecting it.  It's glowing just as much as
a candle flame glows, or the tungsten filament in a light bulb, or the
ceramic night light in your bathroom.  They all emit light -- the
difference is simply in the mechanism of imparting energy to the
material, which it subsequently "converts" into visible light.
 
              Cheers-    Earl Verbeek
 


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