C.R. Smith gives the kind of rough appraisals you don't find in a typical jewelry store.

Some of the "rocks" people bring into Prospector's Pouch in Kennesaw really are rocks.

Karen Rose/krosen@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Does this ring made of Georgia Midnight look like Tom Glavine's pitching arm, with a ball? C.R. Smith thinks so..

KAREN ROSEN / krosen@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Loose stones sold at Prospector's Pouch in Kennesaw. C.R. Smith also gives appraisals of people's finds.

LIVING Latest Headlines: Georgia Aquarium to welcome 10 millionth visitor  Aquarium adds 4 sandbar sharks to exhibit  Cellphones serve as '$300 baby rattle'  Athens ranked among best places to live  Jobless Atlantans stay busy volunteering  • More Living Stories • Living photo galleries • Georgia Aquarium news and photos • Zoo Atlanta news and photos

Say you've found something shiny in your backyard. Smith can tell if you've struck gold — like they did in Dahlonega, site of the United States' first gold rush — or unearthed a valuable gemstone like aquamarine.

More often, though, he'll report that you have a fistful of ... fool's gold.

"Very seldom is it real gold," Smith said, "because there are a lot of materials out there that mimic gold."

One local man recently discovered some gleaming rocks while building a retaining wall at his home.

His father-in-law sent him to Prospector's Pouch with plastic baggies full of the stuff. Smith, a gemologist examined it, taking it back into his office for further tests.

He determined that the rock was mica.

"Keep looking," he said. "Don't give up because you didn't find anything."

Smith usually makes these appraisals at no charge. He said he may charge if he'll have to do a lot of research, but sometimes does those appraisals for free, too.

"Because I'm curious," he said, "and I want to know what it reads on various instruments."

"People from all over the country come over to see us (for appraisals)," said Smith's wife, Ilene, who is also a gemologist. "What's so funny is they don't want to tell him sometimes where they found it, and he'll say, 'This is about two miles from such and such,' and they go, 'How did you know that?' "

It just comes with experience — and a 20-pound sledgehammer for cracking boulders. Smith has been prospecting in Georgia since he was a boy in Troup County.

He promises customers he won't divulge where they found their personal motherlodes.

After all, he's kept mum for 23 years about the location of his biggest find. Smith discovered a precious stone he named Georgia Midnight because it looked like a starry sky.

He literally stumbled upon it.

"I stubbed my toe and I looked down and I just dug the rock out," Smith said. "I don't let things go, like a lot of people who just rub their toe and walk off. I was curious to know what I hit."

He determined that the stone contained bits of precious metals, including gold, silver and platinum, plus 26 other elements.

Prospector's Pouch is the only store that sells Georgia Midnight. Smith won't say how much he found but said it is an "ample supply to make jewelry."

"He got it all," said Ilene Smith.

Besides resembling the nighttime sky, Georgia Midnight also has something in common with clouds: you can see shapes in it.

One ring on display in the store features a stone that Smith believes looks like Tom Glavine's pitching arm. You can see the ball in his hand, even the split fingers.

"It's not for sale, not right now," C.R. Smith said.

"Not unless Tom Glavine wants it," added his wife.

There's plenty of other jewelry to purchase at the store, which has been on Cobb Parkway for 38 years. Prospector's Pouch has a jewelry maker on site, Suzan Zimmerman, who makes 30 percent of the store's jewelry.

The store also sells everything from tumbled stones, to rocks for New Age enthusiasts, hunks of amethyst, stone-cutting equipment and miner's pans.

"If they buy equipment, I usually give them tips," C.R. Smith said.

"This is like a one-stop thing," Ilene Smith said. "We have everything from unfinished stones to sterling."

In April, Prospector's Pouch was featured on the Travel Channel's "Cash & Treasures" show. The show, which covers finding star rose quartz in Georgia, is in the channel's rotation.

Ilene Smith believes the TV exposure has brought more customers to the store.

"We've had people in here from California and Oregon who say, 'This is the first place I wanted to go to,' " she said. "Because no one else does this."