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Post by christopherl1234 on Sept 24, 2012 0:28:07 GMT -5
Pick up a few of these the other day. The eggs are from a little bigger than golf ball size to a little smaller than a baseball size. I think they may be out of Mexico. cut one open and found this Any help with the ID would be greatly appreciated.
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Post by Toad on Sept 24, 2012 8:27:25 GMT -5
Solid coconut 'geodes'?
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 24, 2012 11:10:00 GMT -5
They have a couple of names, Berrendo Nodules, Berrendo Agate, Mexican Red Hots etc. There is another similar or maybe even the same type called Mexican Surprise Nodules but I think they have a bit different matrix shell to them....Mel
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SteveHolmes
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Member since July 2009
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Post by SteveHolmes on Sept 24, 2012 17:16:11 GMT -5
Chris, Very Cool! I think Mel has named all the possibilities. I have a few very similar that came from an old collection and they were labeled "snowball agates" . steve
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Sabre52
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 24, 2012 17:37:15 GMT -5
Yep, I had forgotten that one Steve. Think you nailed it. The Snowball agate name was another synonym for the Mexican Surprise Nodules. More I look at the posted pic, I'm now leaning more towards the Surprise/Snowball ID. I went out and looked at my redhots and they tend towards more red banding, thicker matrix and having the ribbed appearance of normal T-eggs and being more buff brown.. I don't have any snowballs anymore but I seem to remember them as having much thinner, softer, and whiter exteriors with a larger percentage of agate inside which really matches the above example....Mel
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Post by Bikerrandy on Sept 24, 2012 18:35:24 GMT -5
Those are cool!! I never heard of them, are they uncommon?
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herchenx
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Post by herchenx on Sept 24, 2012 18:39:47 GMT -5
they are very cool
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Post by christopherl1234 on Sept 25, 2012 0:10:32 GMT -5
Thank you Mel & Steve. They do look like snowballs. Kinda sugary on the outside. Some of them have red formations in the hollows. I found these at an estate sale.
This is the first time I ever saw these. I was pretty surprised when I cut one open....lol!!!
Thanks fellas.
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Sabre52
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Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 25, 2012 18:01:27 GMT -5
Randy: I haven't seen snowballs/surprise nodules at a show in like 30 years. Brad Cross says they were mined from shallow pits in northern Mexico about 60 miles south of El Paso, Texas. Many times these small claims were on big cattle ranches and not really exploited for very long or they just play out. I have seen them on E-bay a few times but usually I expect they come from an old estate collection. If you ever look at the rough rock classifieds in a real old Lapidary Journal, you'll be amazed at both the low prices and the amazing amount of rough that used to come out of northern Mexico through El Paso back in the 60's. Sadly, now much of it has been depleted and of course, prices have skyrocketed *L*....Mel
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snidley
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Post by snidley on Jan 28, 2013 18:44:28 GMT -5
These are Mexican Snowballs. I've got the Mexican Coconuts, Mexican Red Hots, and Mexican Snowballs. I'm always looking for more of the Snowballs. I bought some first back in the late '70's or early 80's and still have several halves of that batch. Since then I ran into a guy selling some a little smaller, but most just as pretty. And if ther are ever any for sale, I will be thrilled to get some. They can be drop-dead gorgeous.
Red hots are almost entirely red agate in the brownish matrix - some banding in white and occasionally black. Sometimes some quartz crystal, but most of the time the agate is mostly red, with some fortification banding. I've also gotten some with a black calcite-like center inside the agate. It has a little flash to it, and undercuts when polishing.
Mexican Coconuts are wonderful predominantly blue banded geodes or solid nodules. The geodes - hollow - tend to be quartz crystal in the center, but there are a number of other possible crystals. The first one I ever opened had amethyst, and I was hooked on them. The majority sold nowadays tend to be solid blue with fortification banding. I've also had some come up pure trash - just little veining/lacing of the blue agate through the "ash" that the base matrix was made of. There are also some that are almost pure quartz crystal once passing through the outer blue agate skin. I've got one that is about 6 lbs pure quartz with some agate ghosting floating around the middle of it.
There are several other stones similar to the Mexican Red Hots available from time to time. There are three distinct locations I've heard of where they are dug. What they are called depends more on what the seller decides than any true name, but the names I've heard include Mexican Red Hots, Mexican Red Coconuts, Hot Tomales, Red Hot Tomales, and Berrendo Agate.
There is no doubt in my mind that the pictures you have shown are of the Mexican Snowballs that I bought years ago. I even have slices much like yours (some are trashy, but most are phenomenal). These are FAR better than the Mexican Red Hots, with very lacy patterns, and often little dots of red confetti like yours has.
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Post by gingerkid on Jan 30, 2013 17:54:37 GMT -5
Really like your specimens, Christopher! Hi, snidley, do you have any pics that you might please post on the forum? I've never heard of nor seen Mexican Red Hots. Have a few Mexican coconut geodes that are really nice. Are they called snowballs?
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