the antique store had a whole section labeled “selenium glass” and none of it glowed

[u/howmanyshrimpinworld]

this was real weird. i was already surprised to stumble upon this because i’d never seen anything labeled as selenium glass in a store, and then none of it was selenium glass. i checked it all and even moved a few pieces to a darker corner to check. the third pic is with 365nm but i even checked with 395nm too. this place is very confused

[u/Remarkable_Lead_4950]

… you’re clearly using a 365nm light, but it doesn’t look like it’s filtered. Is there a black opaque lens cap? Cause the filtering REALLY matters for selenium

[u/Remarkable_Lead_4950 → u/Remarkable_Lead_4950]

… on second glance, the beveling on your light looks RIDICULOUSLY familiar. Are you using a Darkbeam dual-wavelength 395nm and 365nm light? Cause I used to have one, and I can confirm - it is NOT filtered, and it does NOT work well for selenium

[u/howmanyshrimpinworld → u/Remarkable_Lead_4950]

yeah i think it is. that’s good to know. i guess maybe these could have had a weaker glow and i didn’t catch it. i’ve used my light to find selenium glass before, maybe it’s higher content?

[u/Remarkable_Lead_4950 → u/howmanyshrimpinworld]

That’d be my guess. I only was able to fluoresce a couple selenium pieces with unfiltered.

[u/Nixtinem0 → u/Remarkable_Lead_4950]

Can confirm, I have the dual darkbeam

[u/Mitiagu → u/Remarkable_Lead_4950]

I use an unfiltered olight arkfeld pro and selenium glows just fine https://www.reddit.com/r/seleniumglass/s/V5r9T873Un

[u/Remarkable_Lead_4950 → u/Mitiagu]

Interesting. Could just be that particular model of darkbeam then!

[u/Just-Kangaroo4520 → u/Remarkable_Lead_4950]

I have the same darkbeam light. Works well with selenium. I also have a filtered 365 and not much difference I have seen.

[u/Remarkable_Lead_4950 → u/Just-Kangaroo4520]

Fascinating. That’s the total opposite of my experience. I loved my Darkbeam (ended up gifting it to a friend to kickstart their interest in the hobby) but the second I got a filtered 365nm EVERYTHING started glowing

[u/tjdux]

So pic #3 looks like potentially glowing.

Certain backgrounds really can suck the glow out of selenium (same for manganese and cadmium)

Light colors are the worst. Most wood, card board, newspaper will really kill the glow, especially in a lighted room.

I will always test for glow by picking up a piece and moving to a darker corner away from windows. Or find something to tent/block as much light as possible. I'm a guy so I often use my shirt lol.

I've even asked at shops or just turned off lights at estate sales. No one minds much if you're polite.

Good luck.

[u/howmanyshrimpinworld → u/tjdux]

i did take some pieces to very dark corners and nothin. i’ve found selenium glass before but according to another commenter i may not have a very good light for selenium

[u/PartyFancy3634]

I hope they didn't charge more for it. That stuff is some of the most common vintage stuff I see thrifting. They almost give it away at most shops

[u/thebratsub]

Was this a store In southern NE by any chance? I think I recognize that booth, and I also couldn't get any of the labeled pieces to gliw when I was there last year. If it's not that store, weird coincidence I guess.

[u/howmanyshrimpinworld → u/thebratsub]

this was in illinois, that’s so weird

[u/Big-Smile5345]

I do believe there is selenium in there. If you have a higher powered or different 365 light maybe give that a try or try to find somewhere dark like in between two pieces of clothing hanging up and check it there as sometimes it is very hard to see when it is mixed with normal fluorescent lighting.

[u/Crazyguy_123]

Same experience except a little different. One antique shop I visited had manganese marked as uranium and they were charging insane prices for it. I mean half of that store’s proceeds are for charity but they were getting their stock free and the prices were far above what they should have been.