I can imagine this 'gem'--solid, highly polished, valuable. Would such coal be similar in appearance to that beautiful black volcanic rock?

no, coal is much shiner than obsidian.. there is a diner just off the highway in scanton (PA) that has beautiful object carved from lumps of anthracite coal.

i remember being excited when the coal truck came round to our apartment building-- the big truck would back up onto the sidewalk, and a ton of coal would go down the shute to the coal bin in the building basement.

we kids would reach out and try to grab lumps. the building used smallish lumps -- (they made 'black chalk' for white concrete walks) the coal would glitter in the sunlight. Coal is very pretty.

(spoken like a person who has never had to mine coal, or shovel coal or shovel coal ashes).


my other obsession