Rainbow or Peacock Coal

Den034071 · Post by **Den034071** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 6:16 pm

Alright you coal burners .Anyoneof you all can identify above subject .jack

Post by **fifthg** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 6:29 pm

like the colors oil will leave as it shimmers on water,the volatiles can leave colors as they escape the coal.some fade quickly,some more slowly.you can lock it sometimes very nicely with something like polyurethane

Post by **Rob R.** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 7:32 pm

I got a fresh load of Kimmel's once and many of the pieces looked like oil on water. Very pretty.

Much harder to see since I switched to rice.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 10:20 pm

From the title, I though progressives finally discovered the benefits of coal heat ...

Post by **Richard S.** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 11:05 pm

Seen a lot of course, we called it rainbow coal and was prevalent in some veins. I don't know which ones but typically it was from coal that was very shiny, if I had to guess near Hazelton.

Under the loading chutes at the breaker the coal that had water constantly running over it would be very blue, this was mine water so I would assume the high sulfur content of the water or something else had something to do with it.

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 11:28 pm

My pea coal has some color this year.

.JPG | 119.5KB | IMG_0694.jpg

SWPaDon · Post by **SWPaDon** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 11:57 pm

SMITTY wrote:From the title, I though progressives finally discovered the benefits of coal heat ...

I dunno what you're smokin, but can ya spare some?

Post by **Richard S.** » Thu. Dec. 17, 2015 11:58 pm

That example would be more likely the result of weathering. The better examples will be fresh coal, hard and shiny. The sheen is almost oil like.

hank2 · Post by **hank2** » Fri. Dec. 18, 2015 2:34 am

A few years ago, I was given about 4 or 5 drums of old anthracite. It had been collected by an old railroad man in the 50's and 60's. I eventually burned it all. It was the hardest coal I have ever seen. Most likely it was coal bound for steel mills? If you broke a piece off the stove sized coal or managed to crack a piece in half, it was very iridescent. I don't know if it's correct to call it rainbow coal, but it had a lot of colors.

When burned, it was very low on volatiles. A little bit of blue, which quickly disappeared. It needed a lot of air and burned a very long time.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Fri. Dec. 18, 2015 7:28 am

Just think for the low price of $67 going all the way up to the hundreds of dollars you too can own a chunk of rainbow or peacock coal shipped all the way from sunny California.

Being as California is such a huge anthracite coal producing state, this is a rare and wonderous find!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEAUTIFUL-RARE-ANTHRACITE ... 1332720796

Post by **StokerDon** » Fri. Dec. 18, 2015 8:27 am

blrman07 wrote:Just think for the low price of $67 going all the way up to the hundreds of dollars you too can own a chunk of rainbow or peacock coal shipped all the way from sunny California.

Being as California is such a huge anthracite coal producing state, this is a rare and wonderous find!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEAUTIFUL-RARE-ANTHRACITE ... 1332720796

Fittingly, it's not only in California, it's in "Weed" California!

If yer smok'in that WEED, 67 bucks is a bargain!

-Don

Den034071 · Post by **Den034071** » Sat. Dec. 19, 2015 6:23 pm

That picture is called Rainbow coal .I recently bought some lumps from a small mine near Pottsville Pa.I cracked a 24 inch piece and really it the coal piece belongs on a mantle .Well at least not burned in a stove .Colors are gold yellow blue pink an purple .I am saving this piece .Note the color is in the coal an will not wash off.jack

Post by **fifthg** » Sun. Dec. 20, 2015 9:39 pm

volatiles like sulfur dioxide produce colors and can eventually escape the coal completely,leaving no trace of color.Iron oxide seeping through fractures in the coal can leave colors much longer.