The start of my obsession.

Pics Don. How do you display them? How many out of that 46 have you found yourself?
Jim

Gorgeous display. I would not be able to keep from cutting them suckers up. Great will power on your part.
Jim

These aren't exactly Fairburns. These were self collected June, 2010 along Lame Johnny Creek Rd., just outside of Custer St. Park, S.D. These had weathered out of the limestone along the south side of the road.
Wide face of first piece.

Narrow face of first piece.

Second piece. Just a small eye.

These have all of the patterns and colors of Fairburns, but are considered hills agates

A couple of my Fairburns taken without light tent.

Don,great collection..........

Many of the hills agates are very similar to Fairburns. It depends on which deposit in the Black Hills they came out of. Some dealers have been known to cheat customers by tumbling hills agates and selling them as Fairburns.

The little white things are mineral or museum putty. It's a non hardening, non staining putty that's easy to remove, and is used to hold specimens securely in their boxes or stands.

Just won a package deal on ebay. 2 Fairburns and a piece of pet wood with Fairburn type fortifications in it. All for $4.95. The Fairburns don't look like much in the ebay pics, but if you know what to look for they show a lot of promise. Couple days in Super Iron Out and a little baby oil and they'll look a lot better.

Helen, values depend on how rare a certain type of agate is. Fairburns even on the best of hunting days are few and far between.

Hills agates are found in several places in the Black Hills of S.D., and vary greatly in color and patterns from one collecting site to another. All have one thing in common. They all still have matrix rock attached to them. Some are so similar to Fairburns that if the matrix has been removed by tumbling for a long period of time, they are all but impossible for someone not familiar with Fairburns to tell apart from the real thing. Sometimes the only way is by Patina, which can't be reproduced after tumbling. If the fortification banding is clearly visible, in a real Fairburn each individual band is even in width all the way around the pattern. Each band follows the one before it exactly. The Hills agates have bands that vary in width, and don't always follow the same pattern of the band before.

Fairburns are found over a wide area of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands in S.W. South Dakota. Also in a small portion of N.W. Nebraska and N.E. Wyoming. Most have been broken, and only a portion is found. A whole complete Fairburn is a rare beast. I'm bidding on one of those right now, and it won't go cheap.

Most Fairburns are very small. About the size of a quarter. The average cost for one that size, with average colors and only part of the original pattern showing is $5.00. As they go up in size, or with better coloring or complete (full face) pattern, the price goes up. Also, certain colors are more rare than others. One of the rarest is called a ghost agate. The fortification banding is very tight white and clear alternating bands.

Hope that helps to clear some of the confusion.

Think I confused you Helen.

A Fairburn has very little if any matrix surrounding the agate when found. Some not too honest dealers will take the less valuable hills agates and remove the matrix by tumbling, then try to sell them as Fairburns. Unsuspecting tourists think they're getting a real Fairburn, and pay outlandish prices for them.

The Matrix is the surrounding stone that the agates grew in. In the case of both Fairburns and hills agates the matrix was limestone. It's not unheard of to find fossil shells embedded in the matrix. On rare occasion a shell will be found with the interior filled with a Fairburn or hills agate.
In a few days I'll be getting a piece of pet wood with Fairburn type fortification patterns in it.

Patina is the outer color a rock takes on after thousands or millions of years being exposed to the elements and other minerals.

I have a friend in Rapid City who cabs his smaller chips of Fairburns and sells them in silver jewelry. I'll add a link to his site, so you can see what they look like cabbed. He also cabs TeePee Canyon agates, and is honest enough to identify them in his jewelry.

Here's the link to his web site. I'll vouch for his honesty. www.dbsagates.com/