2manyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2015
Posts: 9 
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Post by 2manyrocks on Apr 28, 2015 11:41:24 GMT -5
Hello, rock hounds. I'm a non-lapidary (but learning some) in possession of several hundred pieces of rough agatized coral, which came with a property I purchased in Tampa twenty years ago. They were apparently part of an old rock garden installation, and a few of the pieces have one or two small dollops of mortar on them. The rocks range in size from a fat apple slice to 70+ lb. heads (a dozen of the largest and a couple of heavy bags of the smallest). But the bulk of the collection is in the softball-to-toaster-sized range. I'd like to get these rocks into the hands of finishers, as well as get some benefit from having excavated them (other than the joy of RE-excavating them every few years when they've re-buried themselves in our landscaping :-). We'll still be keeping plenty, but everything shown in these photos (and more) is meant for sale at this point. I've read a lot of info about the desirability of agatized coral, but I've seen very little regarding the value of the rough material to those who work with it. I'm looking for any ideas--and even wild guesses--on what might be a general per-pound price that would be of equal benefit to seller and seeker. I'm thinking of selling these from my home,, with the buyers picking and hauling their choices of pieces. I don't know whether price should vary with size classes or types or not. I'm also not sure how to tell what most likely will be solid vs. botryoidal/geode by looking at the outsides, or if that should matter in terms of pricing. Or should I be breaking these rocks up into palm-sized pieces and selling ten-pound batches of them on eBay instead of in larger bulk like this--and what techniques are best employed for breaking them? Any advice or questions you'd care to share regarding these thoughts would be most welcome. In this case, it may lead literally to a ton of fun before I'm done. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Thanks! p.s. Just discovered how to add photos from PC, but all my images' filesizes are larger than the 'add attachment' max per item allowed. Need a cheaper phone camera, I guess. PM me for photos, if desired. |
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Post by captbob on Apr 28, 2015 11:48:00 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum 2manyrocks! Are you in the Tampa Bay area? I'm in St. Pete and interested. ETA: Not sure what happened to your photos. I will send you a PM with my email address if you would like to send pictures. Kinda hard to comment on value without seeing them. Some corals are just that - coral with no agatizing (is that a word?). Selling locally, whether you're in Tampa Bay or not, is your best bet as you save selling fees. Craigslist is also a free option. Second edit: DON'T break them up! And, to post pictures here you need to have them hosted on a site for that purpose such as Photo bucket or Flickr. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Apr 28, 2015 12:40:37 GMT -5
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2manyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2015
Posts: 9
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Post by 2manyrocks on Apr 28, 2015 13:01:40 GMT -5
Thanks, CaptBob and JamesP. I'll look into photobucket and try it out. Meanwhile I'll reply to Bob's PM with pics. Stunning stuff there (In James' photos).
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Post by captbob on Apr 28, 2015 13:31:45 GMT -5
Received coral pics. Will re-post here shortly.
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Post by captbob on Apr 28, 2015 13:37:48 GMT -5
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2manyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2015
Posts: 9
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Post by 2manyrocks on Apr 28, 2015 13:55:10 GMT -5
By the way, the group nearest the door/bucket in photo three are segregated as not agatized, to the best of my knowledge. Thanks for the upload, captbob. Just created PhotoBucket acct and will try to post one more pic below, a close-up of a wet chip. ![]() |
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Post by captbob on Apr 28, 2015 14:05:04 GMT -5
2manyrocks (I can't believe that name wasn't taken!) I'm thinking that you mostly have just yard coral there. Maybe you could break one open and check if the inside is any different than the surface. It's probably worth cracking one open to see. Not even sure that material is from Tampa Bay. When you said that you had such large pieces, I was thinking that maybe you had corals from the Withlacoochee River, which is a bit north of here. You in the Tampa Bay area? Here's a couple of my larger Withlacoochee pieces I was hopeful you had something similar to.    If the insides of yours are at all like those, you've got saleable pieces! Hope you have pieces even close, but I'm kinda skeptical. Fingers crossed! Again, where are you located?
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2manyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2015
Posts: 9
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Post by 2manyrocks on Apr 28, 2015 14:58:36 GMT -5
Again, as in my PM, I'm in north central Tampa. You may be right, Capt. I was told they were agatized by a long-time resident but not a lapidary. After buying and cooking dinner I'll try to post pics of ones broken long ago. Meanwhile my photobucket pics aren't posting for me here. I'm going to try that little chip pic one last time with this Proboards 'insert image' button, providing the url when prompted. I'll add a text link at bottom in case it fails again, but what am I doing wrong, anyone?  Direct link: s429.photobucket.com/user/bigjimspics1/media/WP_20150427_09_37_01_Pro_zpsgvdgq08g.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0 |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Apr 28, 2015 15:11:12 GMT -5
Ah, your direct link should look more like this:
http:// (no space here, had to add the beginning) i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/bigjimspics1/WP_20150427_09_37_01_Pro_zpsgvdgq08g.jpg
starts with http:// ends with file type, in this case, .jpg.
This is coral? 
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Post by captbob on Apr 28, 2015 15:15:30 GMT -5
Sorry, I haven't received a PM from you. Just the email with the pictures.
The link worked. Not sure about the picture not showing up, I always insert them manually - which is probably more work, but I know how to do that.
[ img] picture URL ending with jpg [ /img] NO spaces.
I could saw one on my large saw, but that's a heck of a drive without knowing what they hold.
Would like to see some guts!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 28, 2015 16:13:51 GMT -5
Great score if interiors are nice!
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2manyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2015
Posts: 9
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Post by 2manyrocks on Apr 28, 2015 19:13:13 GMT -5
Okay, back from househusband duties and dinner. Thanks, rockpicker and Capt for upload tips. Is that coral, rockpicker asks? Gosh, if I can't even succesfully reply to a PM, and I've only heard they were AgCo from one person so far (a tampa-native old-school librarian), perhaps I'd better reserve judgement until Bob gets his saw on some. I will say mine look exactly like the unbroken-rocks photos in the first post of forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/57488/jamesp-rocks. Meahwhile I've shot some of the broken pieces Bob asked for, closer up. If this thread can hold 4 more pics and I get it right, they'll be below. To describe the bulk of what I have, the least broken pieces are wedged chunks of rounded domes. Outer surfaces are typically water-smoothed with low-rise lumps, dull caramel in color. Broken insides are columnar. Broken end grain reveals tiny star-shaped polyps. Other colors are red (near the surface), gold, burgundy, cinnamon, strong pink, blue-black, creamy off-white, etc. Lets hope the third times' the charm for me with photos:  The top of the larger piece above shows the typical outer surface well.  Love the football-sized arrowhead suggestion of this one. The smooth outer dome is fairly uniformly covered with a thin, rough crust.  Algae covered. Definite polyp stars on the end-grain.  A more-recently broken chunk, the sides of which haven't weathered in the ground. BTW CaptBob; St. Pete is not too far to drive for the education I'm seeking before parting with these. No 'guts', no glory. No see guts, no informed appraisal. I'll try that PM reply again, and if that fails, I've got your email. I appreciate your interest and the thoughts of all the others. |
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2manyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2015
Posts: 9
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Post by 2manyrocks on Apr 28, 2015 19:23:27 GMT -5
STILL no photos, apparently. Here's the code to the first one in the above post. Can y'all see anything wrong in it?
(bracket) img alt="" src="http://s429.photobucket.com/user/bigjimspics1/media/WP_20150428_18_19_19_Pro1_zpsveae9fpa.jpg" style="max-width:100%;" (end bracket)
I removed the auto-generated alt="" (space), but that didn't fix it. Maybe I should leave it in with some added alt description?
Maybe the auto-generated brackets should be removed. Will try that, too.
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Post by deb193redux on Apr 28, 2015 19:37:25 GMT -5
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2manyrocks
off to a rocking start
Member since April 2015
Posts: 9
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Post by 2manyrocks on Apr 28, 2015 19:47:12 GMT -5
Success at last!! Needed to use PhotoBucket's direct links vs. html links. D'oh! Now all everyone has to do is go back three posts to see the broken pieces pics :-). Enough frustration for one night (If I can stay away and fall asleep).
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 28, 2015 22:20:15 GMT -5
Looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Apr 29, 2015 9:16:52 GMT -5
Here is a wall typical of larger Florida coral typically found inland and around from Tampa. They occur pebble size to boulder size. Normally, the bigger the pithier. The coral found along the gulf shore is really the main source of 'Tampa Bay Coral'. It often has black in it. To be honest, they normally have a lot of pith and semi-silicified centers. The outer layer often has rich silicifications but it is a challenge to get to or saw away. I remove it with a hammer and tumble it. Slabbing is hard to do.  A close up of the top of the wall shows some better quality:  |
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Post by captbob on Apr 29, 2015 9:42:14 GMT -5
That wall is a typical use I have seen of these common corals all my life. People have tons of this stuff lying around and one has to be "in to" coral to even notice it. Lots of it commonly used as landscape rocks to border gardens or driveways. Often you can't even give this stuff away because there is just so much of it around. I'd bet I could go out and fill the bed of my pickup truck with this material for a hundred bucks without too much trouble. Yes, some may have solid colored interiors, which may be of interest to some folks that tumble or enjoy knapping, but that's a pretty limited market. The agatized Tampa Bay coral jamesp showed and stuff from the Withlacoochee River that I posted on page 1 of this thread is where the money is. This coral must be like obsidian is to you folks out west. |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 29, 2015 9:47:46 GMT -5
Quote"This coral must be like obsidian is to you folks out west."Quote
That's why we (as you guys) are particular on picking up stock as Obsidian and (or coral),it's there,plenty of it and take your time and get the good stuff-Thumbs up
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