Bismuth has a metallic-white color with a slight reddish or pinkish hue. Such a color will only be present on an untarnished (i.e. freshly broken) surface, since Bismuth tarnishes yellow to dark-gray. Bismuth is not a common mineral and usually occurs in uninteresting forms. It rarely occurs in decent crystals. Bismuth is about as rare as Silver.
Most marketed Bismuth specimens are laboratory grown, and exhibit a very interesting shape. They have hopper-like growths in pseudocubic crystals, and are usually coated with chemicals to prevent tarnish, thus maintaining the silver-white color. Sometimes the coating gives a colorful effect on the bismuth. These artificial crystals are very often sold to collectors without being specified that they are lab grown. Any hopper-shaped crystal with a fine luster and no tarnish should be assumed to be artificial.