For two years I've been on a quest to find bulk lots of Trinitite, without success.
At 5:30 am on July 16,1945; the US government dropped the first atomic bomb at the "Trinity Site" in White Sands near Alamogordo NM. The blast was so intense that it fused the gypsum on the ground into greenish masses. To this day, It has not been determined why they turned green. Immediately people began collecting the oddities, not realizing they were highly radioactive. The government became concerned about the radioactivity being spread about the country contaminating everybody, so it promptly bulldozed the area and buried the major quantity of it in a pit 25' down. Much to their detriment people sought it out on the surface for collections. An extensive amount still got out into the public and for decades people were unwittingly exposing themselves to high doses of radiation.
Now, 74 years later, most of the radioactivity has dissipated to a point that our cell phones are putting out more radiation. Unfortunately, over the years most of the trinitite has been dispersed through out the world. Any that is being sold is individual pieces, and it is fairly expensive. So I was relegated to hoping to find a collection that would have some in it. The collection we picked two weeks ago had one piece in it, which I promptly put out for $55.
One day last week, as I was sorting out the collection, a gentleman came into the store looking to sell some rocks. I informed that we were not buying unless it was something really unique or special. He said he a few pieces of Hickorite
to sell. I said I wasn't interested but would look at it anyway. He brought it in and it was nice looking but I wasn't interested, so I was ready to send him on his way. He was pretty adamant about selling them so I offered him a small price which he promptly accepted. As he was leaving, he asked if I would be interested in some melted sand from Alamogordo. Knowing the history, I was intrigued, so I said I would look at it. He left and came back with a small metal lock box.
Much to my surprise...
I immediately asked how much he wanted and promptly paid his price.