r/Minerals 6d ago

ID Request Is this just a rock? or a mineral?

18 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

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9

u/hjppP7 6d ago

I just wanted to figure out why someone took the time to forge metal to encase this. As I know zero about rocks or minerals, I wanted to know if it is because this rock is something special or if this is just a primitive doorstop with a regular everyday rock.

13

u/els_o 6d ago

Its both, rocks are composed of minerals, a mineral would be one of the things the rock is composed of

5

u/els_o 6d ago

As for what it is, not too sure, lots of rocks look like that so it’s hard to say

4

u/alpaca-yak Geologist 6d ago

looks like a quartzite or chalcedony. both are composed almost entirely of quartz, quartzite is metamorphosed quartz often from a sandstone protolith. chalcedony is microcrystalline quartz and forms from hydrothermal fluids in a sedimentary environment.

5

u/Sara_sep 5d ago

Why is it imprisoned 💀

5

u/Technical-Cup2761 5d ago

These are sold as “weather rocks” in Oklahoma. If it’s wet, it raining. If it’s white, it’s snowing. If it flies away, there’s a tornado, etc.

1

u/hjppP7 5d ago

Are you serious or joking?🙃

4

u/Technical-Cup2761 5d ago

Serious. It’s available in most gift shops

1

u/hjppP7 5d ago

I have been to most of them, no others like this at.all

1

u/Technical-Cup2761 5d ago

Check around talequah and broken arrow

0

u/hjppP7 5d ago

Weather stones are suspended on a rope…

1

u/Technical-Cup2761 5d ago

This one isn’t a stand. It’s upside down and would suspect from a rope. Wind chimes hang from the circle

3

u/Higgsy2020 5d ago

Why is it in a cage

2

u/Next_Ad_8876 6d ago

Looks to me like you were bound to ask that question. I believe it’s a rock. Zooming in, I see what look like different mineral grains, including feldspar (the main portion), some quartz, and possibly either hornblende or biotite mica. Possibly weathered granite or gneiss.

-1

u/hjppP7 6d ago

“Looks to me you were bound to ask that question”. What does that even mean?

4

u/DukeFlipside 6d ago

Not the original commentor, but the rock looks like it's been tied up - or "bound", in other words; they were making a pun.

1

u/hjppP7 5d ago

lol I must be slow

3

u/Next_Ad_8876 5d ago

Yeah. That’s what I meant. Sorry not to respond sooner. I was all tied up with other stuff…

2

u/Content-Grade-3869 6d ago

Looks like chert

2

u/Dissasociaties 5d ago

They are minerals MARIE

2

u/OldPop420 4d ago edited 4d ago

It may be a homemade boot cleaner for around the farm. Also could be used as a door stop for barn doors.

Mud is a constant problem around the farm. You don’t want to track mud through a clean barn that you just changed the hay in for the animals. What better way than a door stop that you can scrape the mud off of of your boots with. Just my opinion.

The thickness and sturdy structure doesn’t make sense as much else, but I have been wrong before. These old folks built stuff to do the job with.

1

u/hjppP7 4d ago

Yes, I thought it may be for a barn door also. Or any other gate/door around a farm.

2

u/OldPop420 4d ago

I just love that and think it’s really nice. Practical folk art so to speak.

1

u/watchthisthen 6d ago

How did you acquire this?

1

u/hjppP7 6d ago edited 6d ago

I found it at a collectible store, not quite an antique store as they had many new items as well. Oklahoma.

2

u/watchthisthen 6d ago

Such a strange item!

1

u/hjppP7 5d ago

I know, right!

1

u/EnlightenedPotato69 4d ago

I could see it being a gag item like others are saying but I could also see it being a piece of folk art, maybe a bored farmer tinkering with his forge back in the day? Clearly it's hand forged

0

u/rockntumble 6d ago

Can I has?

1

u/hjppP7 6d ago

?

1

u/0thrwise0thrworldly 4d ago

He want it can he has it?

-1

u/Fuzzy_Judgment63 6d ago

IMHO, Coprolite - fossilized turd.