My friend Tina and I headed up to Oak Ridge, TN on Friday morning. The sale started at 1pm and we were feeling really good as we pulled into the neighborhood a good 50 minutes early. Our hopes of being the first people there were quickly dashed as we found people already fighting for parking a good 1/4 mile away from the house. Not being 'estate sale' people we were shocked. The home was small, so they were assigning numbers to stagger the entry we ended up being 74 and 75.
As we were walking up I saw a tall man walking back towards the cars carrying the big tumbler that I know
MrMike bought online in the early sale. So I quickly accosted the guy, forcing an ID, to prove that he was indeed our Mr Mike and not some interloper stealing his fantastic deal. It was Mr Mike, so I didn't need to sic Tina on him. Now that Mike has met her, he understands the reference. LOL
It was great to meet Mike, the three of us have the same professional degrees and like rock. Hopefully will get to dig with Mike in the future!
Before they started letting people in, the estate people introduced the 'expert' direct from JTV
. He was really proud of himself and announced that all stone sales would go through him. That somethings were not marked correctly and would possibly be higher priced. He stated that all the yard rocks would be priced at $4/lb or higher (after he looked at them).
Tina, Mike and I spent the waiting time looking at the yard rocks anyway. I got real lucky and snagged a piece of dino bone from under some leaves. The cells are white, but it's about a pound and I was really tickled. Tina suggested that I rub some dirt on it, to mask the cells and see if I could get it cheaper than $4. I simply avoided the JTV guy at every turn and when I checked out the guy didn't even want to weigh the rock and asked me if $1 each for all the individual rocks and slabs I picked was good with me.
So here is everything that I got for a dollar each.
Chunk of dino from the yard. Back side:
Front side:
Side
Found these slabs inside while dodging the JTV guy
This one made me REALLY happy.
It on the thin side though.
Two more that are thin, but nice. Are these Ocean Jasper?
Nice little chunk of Tigers Eye. Should cut several slabettes.
Nice thick slab. It this thulite?
Little chunk of our NC corrundum in smaragdite.
I did buy one box. This was the label on the box. Not all labels were correct on the boxes. So please help me ID what was in the box.
The three smaller stones
MrMike found outside and gave to me, but they match the larger one. In the sun it does have a fine green mossy plumes that run throughout.
Green and red moss
This is a big chunk, should cut several slabs. Does it have a name, or is it just generic yellow jasper.
Im guessing this is the 'Mexican Nodule'. One piece, multiple views.
Is this the zebra agate? I wouldnt' think so, unless it is just the black and white strips near the one end.
Two pictures same chunk.
Just those few little dots of blue in the corner, mostly lighter green veining. Not as dark as the picture shows.
And this was in the box too. Front and back images. About 3 inches thick.
Thanks for looking.