Originally each specimen entered into the Book had a number attached to it. 500 specimens filled the book rather quickly. Somewhere in Book 2 I changed the number assignment criteria to allow multiple entries under a single number.
The assigned number is now bestowed on when and where a rock came from. The assigned number is more like a field trip number. All the rocks from that time have the same assigned number followed by an alphabetical letter (a - z). If it's more than those 26 entries the case of the next 26 entries is capital letters (A - Z).
Most of the specimens in the collection have that number assignment on them somewhere, usually this is accomplished by a) dabbing some typing correction fluid on them; when dried, the number is written on the dry, white space. If necessary, the markings can be removed with a solvent or b) writing on specimen's exterior, which in most cases is irrelevant to the displayed portion.
example 1st method -
2nd method -
(writing is on the actual rock, not correction fluid)
(writing is on the actual rock, not correction fluid)
