The easiest place to begin a collection of the state gems and minerals is in your state, or the first one you visit. Then, as you travel and move into a new state, you can look for places, like rock shops, where you can buy the state gems and minerals. There are also places in some states where, for a fee, you can look for your own gems and minerals, which can be fun as well as educational.
First, let’s start with the quartz gemstones, some of which are considered gemstones and some of which are semi-precious gemstones. Two states have selected amethyst, purple quartz: Georgia as there gemstone and South Carolina as both their gemstone and as their mineral. Rose quartz, pink quartz, is the state mineral of South Dakota, and smoky quartz is the gemstone of New Hampshire. Star blue quartz is the gemstone of Alabama.
Garnet is a common and popular gemstone worldwide, and can be found in the US as well. There are four cases of the selection of garnet or a specific garner as a state gemstone. Connecticut and New York both have an unspecified garnet as state gemstone, and the Vermont has selected grossular garnet as their gemstone. Idaho uses star garnet as their Idaho gemstone.
Topaz is another gemstone found in the US. Two states have elected topaz as state representative gemstone, Utah, with an unspecified topaz, and Texas with the Texas blue topaz.
Jade, ever popular around the world, is found in at least three states in some quantity. They include Alaska, which has made it the state rock, California with jade as the state stone, and Wyoming with nephrite jade as the state gemstone.
The beryl family includes several named gemstones, including aquamarine and emerald. Colorado has aquamarine as their state gemstone, and North Carolina has the emerald as the state gemstone. New Hampshire specifies beryl on general as the state mineral.
There are two remaining gemstones. Diamond is the state gemstone of Arkansas, and can be found there. The Yogo sapphire is the state gemstone of Montana.
Not so much a gemstone as w semi-precious stone, turquoise is much favored by the residents of the Southwest as a material used in the jewelry made there. Turquoise is the state gemstone of Arizona, the semi-precious state gemstone of Nevada, and the state rock of New Mexico.
Finally, there are the states which have other resources from which to select for their gemstones. Black coral is the state gemstone of Hawaii, while black fire opal is the state precious gemstone of Nevada. Fluorite is the state mineral of Illinois, and Rhodochrosite is the state mineral of Colorado. Both of these can be made into beautiful beads. Tourmaline is the state gemstone of Maine, moonstone if the state gemstone of Florida, and Oregon sunstone is the state gemstone of Oregon.