jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 29, 2015 10:53:23 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. Most of that coral in your area captbob was dug up when making deep irrigation ditches for orange groves. Recently from construction excavations. Such is the wall above, orange trees in the back ground. I have seen people hoard and sell it. I have seen people consider it a nuisance. Most of the selling was for landscape rock, so by the ton and cheap. Finding lapidary grade is like many rocks, you have to find it. Bill Burke had a rock shop in Tampa for many years. All his coral came from a 5 acre lot in downtown Zephyr Hills Fl. An odd above ground exposure. All small 1-3 pound chunks that were very high in grade. His coral cabs from that material was his staple income. That lot has long since been plowed and rocks moved to the side and buried, house and green grass to replace. A small creek in Zephyr Hills is where I get some of my finest coral. The creek is full of coral for a half mile, but only a 50 foot stretch of it has lapidary grade. Darn near cleaned that spot out over the years. Tampa Bay Coral was about cleaned out along the beaches and shore of Tamp Bay many years ago. It is very rare, even tough it covers the bottom of the entire area most likely, it has 20 feet of sand on top of it. Digging it on beaches and shorelines has long been outlawed for turbidity reasons. Add Florida rivers too. |
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Post by captbob on Apr 29, 2015 11:13:16 GMT -5
Tampa Bay Coral was about cleaned out along the beaches and shore of Tamp Bay many years ago. It is very rare, even tough it covers the bottom of the entire area most likely, it has 20 feet of sand on top of it. Digging it on beaches and shorelines has long been outlawed for turbidity reasons. Add Florida rivers too. Must have been around 30 years ago (where does the time go!?) there was a dredging project over by MacDill Air Force Base which is at the south point of Tampa, on the east side of the bay. Dredgers were deepening a channel into the port of Tampa and piling up what they were sucking up out in the bay making "islands" with the stuff. Islands didn't last but a year or two before all the material returned to the bay. I took a boat out there, which was off limits but oh well, and found a few buckets of Tampa Bay coral pieces. No one else out there and the pickings were pretty darn good. Thanks dredgers! Got a couple/few boxes of the stuff packed away somewhere, don't even know where it is offhand. Should have made more trips out there, but back then I just thought it was cool looking stuff - had no idea that it might be worth something someday. Guess with hindsight, I coulda/shoulda is rather common among rockhounds. *sigh* |
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 29, 2015 13:02:08 GMT -5
I might be hitting you two up (buying) for some display coral for my home....Bigger stuff..."Captbob" and "James"-get two different varieties....
That stuff is so cool..........Thumbs up
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Apr 29, 2015 15:06:53 GMT -5
Yep, dredging ops are perfect place to find it.
Especially if wave action washes it. Ballast point in Tampa Bay was el primo spot back in the day.
Shoulder deep out from the shore still has lots of cool chert outcroppings and coral north of the public dock.
North west side of Zephyr Hills has a strike of it. I have found 30 and 40 pounders that were solid, but that is rare.
Some of the coral from that spot is real nice. Guessing that 1% of 1% of 1% is exposed. The natives left chips that would knock your socks off.
No telling where they mined it from.
The problem with coral is that it is a thin vein under ave 20 feet of sand. So the sand to coral ratio is high.
Dumped dredgings get washed by wave action and expose it.
The beaches had exposed it and it all get picked up long ago.
The rivers do the same thing, wash the sand away and leave the river bottom full of coral.
But salt water gives those blacks and pinks.
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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 29, 2015 15:58:29 GMT -5
Thanks to JamesP and CaptBob and a few others here and elsewhere for a good crash course in coral appreciation. Here's what I THINK I've learned in two days. Yes, my pieces often do look like some in that fence. They are indeed silicified, rock-hard, and mostly solid, as opposed to the non-agatized, crumbly, white, swiss-cheese limestone boulders that I called coral growning up. But apparently the money's in the coral pieces that have aged and mutated a lot longer. Sounds like lapidary-grade is all about large cavities, botryoidal chalcedony and/or druzy. The anatomical correctness of the colonies that I thought looked cool may be a minus. In the desirable pieces, not only are the skeletons replaced by minerals, but their completeness and shapes are altered by the eons into free-form art that's only loosely based on the original inner structure. Let me know if this all makes any sense. Anyway, in my ton of agatized/silicified rocks, many of which have multiple sides created by breaks from decades ago, I only see dramatic chalcedony in one piece--and that one's not meant for sale. It's the monster of all my boulders, 120 lbs and round (whole?), with several large botryoidal concavities on the face. Here's a pic.  If I sold this one, my wife would become the 120 lb monster. It's her fave, which means she has more taste than I did. Speaking of anatomically correct, the central protrusion in the 10-inch, bubbly depression is doing a pretty good frank&beans impression of a rather happy little baby. Maybe that's why it's her favorite. A few dozen of my pieces have strong hints of cavities and fissures inside, but I imagine they're underdeveloped. Here's a couple.  mmmm. Strawberry rhubarb pie.  So now that I'm thinking I don't have a priceless collection, I'll try crudely breaking--or breaking into--one or two of the smaller pieces with the most promising fissures/cavities. If I hit druze or lovely bubbles, CaptBob and his saw will be the first to hear :-). If not, I may offer first picks of all these to tumblers and knappers like JamesP said, before marketing them as landscape rocks. Thanks again, folks for the schooling, and any more thoughts/corrections are most welcome. |
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 29, 2015 16:29:37 GMT -5
They are the coral "Kings"!!!! Thumbs up LOL
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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Apr 29, 2015 17:19:47 GMT -5
I have been watching with great interest. If you hit some of that awesome druzy, Capt Bob will have some competition. James can attest to that, I do like my druzy, not to mention unusual pieces & botroidal ones, as well.
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
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Post by jamesp on Apr 30, 2015 2:26:42 GMT -5
I have been watching with great interest. If you hit some of that awesome druzy, Capt Bob will have some competition. James can attest to that, I do like my druzy, not to mention unusual pieces & botroidal ones, as well. Some of Donnie's creations. From a very large coral head that was like 40 small corals in a colony still connected.    |
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jamesp
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Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Apr 30, 2015 2:32:23 GMT -5
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Post by captbob on Apr 30, 2015 9:00:18 GMT -5
That big 'ol green covered monster is very cool. I'm sorry that your collection seems to be mostly what I call yard coral. I would have been over there in a flash were it otherwise.
Being that this thread was a question on selling your coral; if you are still interested in trimming down that pile, I would suggest Craigslist, and listing them as Florida landscaping coral. I wish that I had a better suggestion or could have given you better news about your corals.
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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 30, 2015 14:59:58 GMT -5
Yeah, Bob, it turns out I should have titled the thread Need advice, thoughts on IDENTIFYING agatized coral rather than SELLING it. Sorry to have gotten everyone excited based on a misled notion as to what was desirable. Having gotten a fine free education here, I'm inclined to freely give these to my neighbors who might like them. They sure are prettier than most landscape rocks I've seen sold in the big-box stores. But the hundreds of pieces we still have installed that I didn't photograph are going to be quite enough for this property going forward :-). Thanks, all, and take care. Looking forward to not having 2manyrocks soon.
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