Reviews
MINERALS & CRYSTALS FOR SALE
FossilEra has a large selection of fascinating mineral specimens, beautiful polished stones and awe inspiring crystals for sale in all price ranges. Whether you are looking to buy a giant amethyst geode, a unique specimen for your collection or pocket-sized polished stones we have you covered.
12168 Items
($1 to $27,500)
Why Buy Crystals From Fossil Era?
In our first eight years in business selling fossils, crystals and fine mineral specimens we have shipped over 150,000 orders around the globe. Over 14,000 reviews provided by Ekomi, an independent review collecting service, shows that our customers have given us an average 4.9 out of 5 star satisfaction rating. We take great pride in offering a large selection of high quality mineral specimens and crystals for sale from around the world, that are accurately described and photographed, and at excellent prices. New mineral specimens are available for purchase on an almost daily basis, so be sure to check out for new listings frequently, or set up a customizable email alert if you would like to be notified when that perfect piece has arrived!
Most orders are shipped within 1-2 business days and we provide a 30 day, no questions asked, money back guarantee on all purchases. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to one of our knowledgeable customer support staff via email at support@fossilera.com or on the phone at (866) 550-2013 (weekdays 7:00am to 4:00pm PST).
Popular Categories
Mineral Specimens - Mineral specimens are one of the most awe-inspiring and interesting collectables on the market. Nature does all of the work and we get to reap the rewards. Minerals are defined as inorganic solids that are composed of ordered molecules in a repeating pattern. That's all well and good; but what does it mean? Essentially, each mineral is made up of similar components that follow a set pattern that gives the mineral its shape and solidity. Looser patterns create amorphous minerals, whereas rigid structures (known as a crystalline lattice) dictate all of the multitudinous shapes that crystals appear in. In fact most geologic material is made up of super-fine crystals, however, when we think of a stunning quartz scepter or a fist-size aquamarine, “macro”-growth crystals are what we are imagining.
Amethyst - Easily our most popular category: amethyst is a beautiful, purple variety of quartz. These showy crystal aggregations get their deep purple coloration from iron inclusions and natural irradiation, come in all shapes and sizes, and are found globally. We import our excellent amethyst crystals and geodes from mines around the world, because different locations offer different formations. Some of the most popular amethyst we offer is the dark amethyst mined from the basalt flows near Artigas, Uruguay. If you are looking for a similar color but larger crystals, check out our selection from Brazil. If you want even bigger crystals than that, wait till you see our stout clusters from the Congo!
Fluorite Crystals - Fluorite is understandably very popular among mineral collectors due to the variety of colors and crystal shapes that it occurs in. It tends to be fluorescent under UV light and some suggest that the word ”fluorescent” is linked to the luminescent properties of fluorite. This mineral is relatively abundant around the world and appears in almost all of the colors of the rainbow, though purple and green are the most common. We have tons of top-notch fluorite crystal specimens from a wide range of locations around the world including China, Spain, Morocco, Illinois, and many others.
Gleaming Pyrite - Pyrite is a golden, metallic mineral that forms in a number of interesting crystal shapes. Commonly referred to as “fool's gold”, pyrite is an iron sulfide mineral with a bright metallic luster. The most intriguing specimens are the amazing, natural pyrite cubes from the Victoria mine in Spain. Other show-stopping varieties include the gleaming pyritohedral clusters from Peru and the disc-shaped pyrite sun formations collected from between the shale layers of the coal mines in Sparta, Illinois.
Tourmaline - Tourmaline is a wildly popular mineral group with collectors given its proclivity to form large, striated crystals that appear in almost every color, often multiple at one time. It often forms elongated, hexagonal, prismatic crystals with heavy striations. These crystals are typically unearthed in large, columnar aggregations that are extremely collectable with little preparation. Tourmaline is the name applied to a group of closely related minerals. The three most abundant varieties are: schorl (dark black), elbaite (multi-colored, red, or green), and dravite (brown or lime green). FossilEra offers premium tourmaline specimens for sale of many varieties from Pakistan, Brazil, Russia, and other countries.
Azurite, Chrysocolla, and Malachite - All three of these copper-based minerals are pseudomorphs of each other and as such are often collected in association with one another. Occurring in the oxidation zones above copper deposits these blue, teal and green minerals are insanely popular among mineral collectors for their exquisite coloring, crazy formations, and alluring patterning. More often than not Malachite and Chrysocolla are found in fibrous forms when in a raw state, with premium specimens coming out of the Congo and Arizona. Azurite, when not a fibrous sun from Australia, is most sought after as sparkling crystal clusters from China and Mexico. The incredible variety of and abundance of these minerals make for excellent beginner collector pieces, but are also highly sought after by serious, longtime collectors.
Calcite - Because of its tendency to form just about anywhere moist and full of limestone, calcite is often overlooked as a collector-quality mineral. However, we should be grateful that calcite grows everywhere and in so many different forms; with so much variety and availability, calcite makes for an affordable and fascinating addition to any collection. A white, yellow, or orange calcium-carbonate mineral and pseudomorph of aragonite, calcite appears just about everywhere, often as a fun bonus association in geodes or as gnarly stalactites. Its organic content means there is a high probability that it will fluoresce under UV lighting. With recent acquisitions of phenomenal pagoda, hematite-included beveled-edge, and funky cave calcite from China, we have expanded our rich calcite inventory to include even more awesome specimens. Scalenohedral beam calcite from Morocco and Illinois are quite popular for their large size and opposing sherp terminations; cave calcite from Peru offers branching shapes and bright coloring; and manganocalcite fluoresces a hot pink under shortwave UV light.
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Stunning Geodes - One of the coolest natural occurrences are geodes. These fascinating formations are the product of empty cavities within rock filling with a silica rich solution and then solidifying along the walls over a long stretch of time. Typically, geodes are lined with quartz crystals (or any of the quartz varieties) but may have other mineral associations depending on the content of the leached fluids as the geode formed. Our stunning South American amethyst geodes often sport calcite crystal associations or glinting orange goethite inclusions in the terminations of the amethyst.
There are many different varieties of geode but some of our most popular specimens are the aforementioned amethyst geodes, sparkly clear quartz geodes from Morocco, brown calcite and clear quartz keokuk geodes from Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, and massive celestine geodes with sky-blue crystals from Madagascar. If you are interested in owning a geode they come in a variety of sizes and price points and are more attainable than ever from FossilEra.
If you are looking to buy a massive display piece to blow your friend’s minds, we have a few huge amethyst geodes from Uruguay and Brazil. These geodes are in the ballpark of 4 feet plus and weigh upwards of 100 pounds. These geodes have beautiful crystal color and quality and come straight from the mines, allowing us to offer the best prices.
The ever popular Septarian geode is another favorite of ours and our customers. These geodes are formed when calcite and aragonite crystals form in the cavities and cracks of mud concretions. Septarian geodes will occasionally form with traces of marine fossils in the outer walls; typically ammonites in cross-section. Septarian from Madagascar is Jurassic in age and is often lined with fine, dark brown, sparkly calcite and aragonite crystals. Utah septarian is from the late Cretaceous and shows off larger, yellow, sharply-terminated calcite crystals. FossilEra offers rough, sphere, and egg-shaped septarian geodes for sale that are ready for display on your mantle.
Polished Agates - The colorful concentric bands of banded agates make for quite the entrancing display piece. But what exactly are agates? Agates are a variety of microcrystalline quartz that grows inside a cavity within a rock. While not all agates are banded, the banded locales are often the most highly sought after, and for good reason. In addition to being visually stunning, the banding of these agates act as a record of the changes in the chemistry of the fluids that are deposited in the cavities where the agate formed. We carry a variety of phenomenal agates, but we try to keep up a good stock of stunners like the crazy lace and laguna agates from Mexico, Lake Superior agates, and fiery carnelian agates from Madagascar.
Morocco is not one of the first places that comes to mind in the agate conversation, but there are some truly great agates coming from the country. Kerrouchen (red, orange, and yellow banded), Berber (thin white, and gray bands) and seam (red, yellow, and white bands that form in cracks not cavities) agates offer very different takes on the banded agate and shouldn’t be overlooked. Patagonia, crater, and Condor agates from Argentina are some of the most highly sought after agates. We are pleased to offer smoldering black and orange crater agates that have a phantasmal green fluorescence under shortwave UV light.
Some agates are notable for their columnar inclusions, such as Turkish stick agates with their slender sagenite formations, and Trent agates from Oregon that are filled with sprays of stibnite and/or realgar. Baker Ranch Thundereggs are another noteworthy agate, that appear as white, blue, pink, and red agates that are encapsulated in rhyolitic rock. These treasures occur only from a small locality in New Mexico. Baker Ranch agates are one of the agates that often exhibit water lines that show the direction the agate was positioned in as it formed.
There is a staggering variety of agates from around the world that differ based on the chemical composition of the mineral leaching of the surrounding area as the agate formed. Regardless, we select only the finest cut nodules, slabs, and stand-up sculptures.
Polished Labradorite - While labradorite is quite beautiful as a raw mineral, it is the polish that enhances and sets off the internal fracturing that creates the pleasing prismatic color play. Labradorite is a feldspar mineral that produces a unique effect known as labradorescence, a variation of the Schiller Effect. This phenomenon is basically iridescence that works as light refracts from the internal layering of the crystals rather than surface level. While labradorite is named after Labrador, Nova Scotia, Canada where it was initially discovered, the majority of high quality labradorite on the market is mined in Madagascar.
Polished Labradorite - Tiger eye, also known as tiger’s eye, is a variety of quartz that is filled with microscopic crocidolite fibers that reflect light in different hues depending on the mineral inclusion that stained the fibers. This material is ridiculously chatoyant and a huge favorite among mineral collectors both old and new. Tiger eye looks great in the rough, but the chatoyance explodes when polished to a glossy finish. The three primary color varieties are gold, red, and blue, but there are other variants that are region specific, such as Marra Mamba tiger eye from Australia. Top quality tiger eye is mined in South Africa, Australia, and China. FossilEra carries superb tiger eye slabs, hearts, pocket stones, worry stones, spheres, and pendants from the top mines in the world.
What Are Crystals?
Crystals are a solid material, formed from molecules fit together in an organized and repeating pattern. These repeating patterns cause crystals for form in all sorts of unique shapes. The vast majority of crystals formed in nature are microscopic and make up all of the rocks on earth. But, under ideal conditions larger (macro) crystals can form. It is these stunning examples that we think of when the word "crystal" comes to mind.
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