Anglesite is a mineral with a hardness of 3 out of 10 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness [?]. These Orthorhombicly structured gems are made of lead sulfate, their full chemical compound being PbSO4.

Anglesite is a very soft gem just slightly harder than gold and silver and as such it does not hold facets well/cut easily.

Because of its softness it tends to scratch, and these scratches will take away from the value and appearance of this gem.

Once cut this gem will not do well in rings as it will quickly become scratched and its edges worn round.

This gem is usually colorless or clear, but also comes in grey, yellow, purple, and brown.

All in all a nice gem but due to its softness it is not suited for all occasions.

The specific gravity [?] for Anglesite is 6.35, it's refractive index [?] is 1.87-1.89, and it's double refraction [?] is 0.017.

History

Discovered by William Withering in 1783 in Anglesey, giving the gem its name Anglesite.

Industrial Usages

There are no known industrial usages for Anglesite, this is most likely due to its lack of hardness.

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Terms

Double Refraction or dr is the ability of a mineral to separate a refracted ray of light into 2 rays. If held over an image or text it will display the object 2x its original size.

Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness is the standard used to categorize a mineral's ability to resist scratching. It gets its name from Friedrich Mohs, the German geologist who first created the scale.

RI or Refractive Index defines light's ability to move through the mineral or in a general sense, any material.

SG or Specific Gravity is the ratio of the weight of any substance to that of pure water at temperature of 3.98°C(39.2°F) and standard atmospheric pressure. This is important to note when actively seeking these minerals in the wild. Minerals with a higher SG will settle below material with a lower sg over time.