Understanding the important differences between 
Copal and Amber...

     An issue has arisen that, as reputable dealers in true amber (see us at http://www.ambergallery.com), we feel needs to be addressed.   There are a few people out there on the on-line auctions selling Colombian resin specimens as true amber.  Much research has been done and papers written by people with impressive credentials and years of research which state that NO true amber has ever been found in Colombia.  The rock strata in Colombia do yield resin, but scientifically it’s been shown to be copal, an immature form of resin. Copals can be younger than amber, but as Dr. David Grimaldi of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City states, “In reality, there are probably no known deposits that allow us to date when resin/copal becomes amber…..As for Colombian copal, its all several hundreds of years old, according to C-14 analyses that I have done on several different samples…..Copal is incompletely polymerized, incompletely cross-linked resin, and as such is much more reactive and soluble to organic solvents.  Usually the light color is an immediate tip off to the possibility that one is dealing with copal; if the surface becomes tacky or gooey with a few drops of acetone (nail polish remover)…it is copal.

      Why these so-called “dealers” in Colombian copal are so insistent, and even belligerent, in maintaining that their material is older than it is is really perplexing.  Resins have terpenes, aromatic chemicals in them that give them their distinctive aroma.  These terpenes also dissipate over time and this in large part determines whether a substance is copal or amber.  In copal, a large part of the terpenes remain.  Amber has lost most,or all of the chemical and has become hardened.   The time it takes for this to occur depends on the soil and rock strata where the resin is deposited.   We have listed methods on this website for testing any specimen to check for amber or copal.  So far, these simple methods have proven to be quite effective.  The links on this site can also lead you to other reputable professional people in the business of collecting and researching, and selling amber from the Baltics, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.   We invite and encourage you to check them out.

     The bottom line is this: Buyer Beware!  Before you buy amber from anyone on-line (including us at the Amber Gallery), or at a rock show, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH.  Ask questions of more than one source, be obnoxious if you have to.  You will be sinking good money into a substance that could be being passed off as something it’s not.  We at the Amber Gallery can provide you with our credentials upon request.  We will also never make a statement or comment that cannot be backed up with professional references to true research, and always back our specimens with a money back guarantee.  The Amber Gallery and my site, “Jewels of the Past”, have the support of published professionals and I e-mail them on a regular basis with questions and queries, as I feel it’s very important to keep our information up to date.  Please feel free to contact us concerning anything you see offered at on-line auction houses and we will be happy to offer our professional opinion or steer you to a source who can help.

-Tammi Johnson
 


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