Amber Listserv / Copal conundrum

[Andy Ng]

Hi guys,

I've been scratching my head over this batch of resinite. They're affected
by acetone (turns tacky where applied), take on a very high polish (no sign
of re-crusting or cracking after a week) and 2 days ago, I found that they
burn with fierce flames and puffs of black smoke.

This contradicts what I thought was a characteristic of copal (bubbly
smoulderings with white smoke issued when burned). Pictured is the 6th
random piece from the batch that I burned. All burn very well with black
smoke puffing out now and then. No white smoke was evident when the pieces
were fully aflame.

Has anyone encountered stuff like this before? Is it time to throw another
monkey wrench into the definition of copal?

Andy
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