If selenite has been misunderstood as being protective, have other crystals, like citrine attracting money, been falsely attributed with other beneficial properties?

This is very much the case as we have explained to you. Crystals in and of themselves have no powers other than for communication and transmission of information— so they cannot take on attributes, they cannot act as change agents to inspire or effect a particular change within a person or their environment except as falls under the heading of ‘information transmission and amplification.’ This they excel at and can be a useful adjunct to obtain further knowledge and extend awareness through the intuitive reach. This has many positive applications and can even be used to enhance financial affairs if one applies their intuitive reach to decision-making, but this requires a successful and sophisticated understanding of their own intuitive apparatus and the way it functions, how best to employ it, and what safeguards are needed to avoid complications and possible negative complications. So, this becomes a matter of experience to use wisely and well. Not everything will be effective that would seem possible or even likely on the surface. So, the many misconceptions about mineral constituents and their properties have been shared and the expectations run high that one can do anything through a crystal, and this is but a raw beginning. There must be much done to entrain them and then the person themselves must be able to perceive the energies from these crystals and turn it into something of value in awareness to give them an actionable new form of awareness and create the possibility of a benefit.