Value and what kind of glass is it?

by Rachel M Leach
(Grand Junction, Colorado )

What kind of beach glass would this be?

What kind of beach glass would this be?

I have had this for about 17 years now and I never knew what in general it was. I was told it was what happens to sand when lightening hits it. I don't know if that's true or if it's glass and if so what kind of glass, and what is the value of it?


Hi Rachel,

That's an interesting question. It's true that when lightning strikes sand, it can create some pretty fascinating structures. The intense heat of the lightning can fuse the sand into peculiar shapes called fulgurites.

Fulgurites are essentially natural tubes or branching formations of glass that form when lightning melts and fuses silica-rich sand or soil.

However, they're often hollow and can vary in size from tiny threads to several inches in diameter, depending on the energy of the lightning strike and the composition of the sand.

A large fulgurite is very rare and doesn't really resemble the glass that you have. See the second photo above.

We welcome any observations from our seaglass fam! Thank you Rachel!

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