[jenny]

my daughter has a small collection of minerals and fossils and we were hoping to bring them with us does anyone know wether this would be possible - thanks

[Carey]

Am interested in this reply as when clearing thro' loft today, found Oh's and daughter's collections!

[Lara Croft]

Hi!
We were advised by Crown, that we should be able to bring our collection in (some fossils, some polished & rough stones). We packed them in a separate box to make it easier for MAF to find them.

However, our container is still a month away, so I don't know yet if they will actually get in.... I'll let you know!

We were told that stones found on beaches etc are not allowed. Not sure why this is, since they are often nicely polished when you find them on the beach, but there you go. I had to leave behind my "lucky" stone, that I found on the beach in Anglesey, just in case, and I haven't found a replacement yet...


Jane

[IanW99]

my daughter has a small collection of minerals and fossils and we were hoping to bring them with us does anyone know wether this would be possible - thanks

From the biosecurity website:-

4.1 Rock or gravel that is inspected and found to be free of organic material, is permitted without restriction.

So as long as they are clean, you will be fine.

Ian

[wiki]

We had no problem bringing in our stones, rough and polished, fossils, ancient pot sherds or our trilobites. The only thing they asked if we had were shells, and we'd not bought in any of those. They are looking for anywhere that small microbes or bugs could have stowed away, so if you have any like that give them a good scrub out if you can, and if it won't affect the colour give them a soak in a light solution of bleach.

[Myrkk]

that's good to know given I've just been to the local rock n gem show and spent a small fortune on quartz, desert rose, natural citrine and geodes. I'd be gutted if I had to leave them behind.

[Hippywench]

That was an interesting question. I have a small collection, including shells and hadn't even thought that I might not be able to take them over. I'll probably get rid of the shells anyway as I can't see them making it over in one piece.

[jenny]

thanks for all the answers you've made a 13 year old very happy

[Familyofmonkeys]

I brought over a rather expensive collection of unusual rocks and minerals and a few small fossils too. Spoke to MAF who told me that as long as clean there is not issue......rocks themselves are inert anyway.

[tea drinker]

Thanks for asking this as it's one of many questions that I wanted answering.
Off to scrub my rocks...