[Rockhounds] Not your father's Mineral Collecting

[DonH]

Ted Kowalski wrote:
> I have some difficulty in the image this portrays. Not that I disagree that
> the flint was in the ballast, but I have some difficulty with the idea that
> ships regularly loaded flint as a toss away rock to adjust ballast.

Ted,

You make some good points and I'm sure others besides I are willing to 
challenge long-held presumptions.  However, all I can say is that a fair 
amount of it has been collected... but then again, how many thousands of 
tons would have been required as ballast?  Certainly more than the 
aggregate few tons I've seen for sale in rock shops.

As far as flints for flintlocks, one chunk of Dover flint goes a long 
way, so there probably wouldn't have been a need for that much of it to 
be imported, and in addition, I would imagine it would have been more 
cost-effective to import finished flints rather than the native rock. 
It would have also been more cost-effective to import sifted chalk 
rather than mine run material that contained waste.  And if it were 
indeed waste, the thrifty and enterprising colonialists of the day would 
certainly have found a use for the flint... as mentioned, Dover flint 
(what some say is the only "true" flint, with anything being found in 
America classified as "chert"), being superior in quality, was probably 
a marketable commodity.

All we know for certain is that this Dover flint has appeared in two 
states.  There must be a bona fide historical record of this somewhere!

Thanks,
Don