|
|
Post by HankRocks on Jan 18, 2018 12:57:22 GMT -5
Captbob,"Quartz Crystals", There is value and I have looked at a good deal of Quartz over the years and have some knowledge, it depends on what price you get. Short of standing there with you and giving you a thumbs up or thumbs down considering the price, the quality and size of the pieces, it's difficult to know.
Sounds like you dance card will be pretty full when you get there, but if you are still interested can send you a couple of links to quartz sellers in the Mt Ida Arkansas area.
Henry
|
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 13:59:45 GMT -5
Sounds like you dance card will be pretty full when you get there, but if you are still interested can send you a couple of links to quartz sellers in the Mt Ida Arkansas area. You are right, I'll have my hands full enough that I probably shouldn't go that direction! Off Topic PhotosHenry, here are a few of that tiger eye. It's a good sized piece, but no big deal other than size.    I also took one of a shelf I have agatized coral on - just because I was out there with a camera in hand.  ETA: the shelf pic should have been bigger. Set it for 1000 wide. Need to figure out what I did wrong (later) back to the new rocks ... |
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 14:14:39 GMT -5
Anyway, some more from the trip last weekend. Not everything needs to be expensive or rare. Sometimes being "cool" or unusual is enough to get me to bring it home. Used to be the case with wimmins too! Now it's just rocks ... This stuff is fossil algae (Stromatolite) found near Wamsutter Wyoming I just like Stromatolites. Like this stuff, and Mary Ellen or Kabamba "jasper". Yup, sometimes cool is good enough!      This Turritella stuff I also find kinda neat. I like the tiny shells  I bought the big chunk because I think it will make a dandy sphere someday.      That may be it for today, not sure. I've been slacking around here (taking pictures!) and need to get some other stuff done. Thanks for following along. More to come! |
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
|
Post by Sabre52 on Jan 18, 2018 14:51:03 GMT -5
Wow that is real pretty stromatolite. Love the examples with all the neat surface features. Nice turritella ( Goniobasis) too but always remember to cut parallel to the top and bottom of the hunk. That way you get entire shell patterns and can take advantage of the high contrast black jasper sections as they are much nicer and more solid than the brown sections which are often more porous.
You are right about bone. Prices are pretty unreal now days. Saw a two pound face polished piece at the Fredericksburg show for $400. Way above my pay grade too...Mel
|
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 15:23:25 GMT -5
Why is dino bone so expensive Mel? I figure there must have been millions of them critters running around, so the bone shouldn't be all that scarce. Not like it's running out...? Here is a pic from their craigslist ad of some dino bone (pic will go away when the ad does I guess)  I bought most of the nice pieces on that shelf, but the two big chunks towards the camera I didn't know enough about. Maybe a 25+ lb piece with the red in it and 20ish lbs for the one on the right. Both could be heavier. They were asking like 1200 & 1000 for them. Nice cell structure showing up close, but I have no clue if they are worth the $$. Guess it would be a nice addition to have a big honkin' chunk like that sitting on a shelf here. They have some pieces inside the house that I'm definitely gunning for. Just don't know value.  Sabre52 |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jan 18, 2018 15:42:19 GMT -5
You definitely sound overwhelmed. I would be, too. And, you're talking about a lot of money, too. Easily nerve wracking.
My best advice- buy what you like and what you know is a good investment. You have a good eye. Trust your instincts.
|
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 16:04:35 GMT -5
That place is a bit overwhelming, but in a good way. I'm usually bored at our local rock shows. I'm certainly not bored over there! It's kinda like going to a Barrett-Jackson auction to buy a vehicle and having no idea on a make or model when you walk in. Do you walk out with the fully restored 71 Chevelle SS or the 72 'Cuda? Or maybe you should get the 68 Camaro...
Not like you're gonna lose with any decision you make!
|
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 16:22:45 GMT -5
Funny thing ... We are emailing back & forth, and a couple days ago this was a paragraph in one of his emails: Other items for your consideration would be spheres, ammonites, walrus skull with scrimshawed tusks, carved eskimo whale bone, carved and/or scrimshawed sperm whale teeth,mammoth tooth, mammoth tusk,musk ox scull, agate wood crotch,giant milky quartz crystal from Gabbs Nevada, selenite crystals, Alaska gold tree coral, nephrite jade vase and Mayan mask, and much more. We can also carry on our bantering about the Texas Spring rose agate replacement wood and the Buchanan Oregon egg.I read that and I'm like - are you kidding me! Noticed he didn't offer up the arrowheads.  ETA: that Alaska gold tree coral was pretty freakin' cool!! I'll try to remember to get some pictures. |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jan 18, 2018 16:28:12 GMT -5
I just want to be there to see all of it- let alone be able to purchase some. Sounds like an awesome collection!
|
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jan 18, 2018 16:31:04 GMT -5
Does anyone know- is that tiger eye more appropriately called Brockman Tiger Eye? A bit better than everyday TE with scenes. |
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 16:31:48 GMT -5
Aside: Mel Sabre52 jamesp - if you get the Fox Business channel, there is a nighttime show called Strange Inheritance. It's about.... (wait for it!) people that inherent odd, usually very valuable things. Monday night a new show is out about someone inheriting an arrowhead collection. Should be worth watching. |
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 16:35:07 GMT -5
Does anyone know- is that tiger eye more appropriately called Brockman Tiger Eye? A bit better than everyday TE with scenes. Like Marra Mamba? No, this is just regular tiger eye, outta Africa, not Aussie. Got it just because I like bigger than the norm rocks! |
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
|
Post by Sabre52 on Jan 18, 2018 16:40:50 GMT -5
Bob, Being a vertebrate fossil, it is illegal to collect fossil bone on government land. The bone for sale these days comes from sites on a few private ranches. Guy I talked with is in Colorado. Since most pvt ranches do not allow collecting, except maybe by authorized scientists, I suspect the number of locations where folks are allowed to collect bone for resale is very limited. That basically leaves old collections where bone was collected before the government got so aggressive about enforcement. Supply and demand thing. Gone are the days when guys would show up at Quartzite with a pickup bed full of bone at $5-10 per pound.
It's amazing. I met a geologist that worked in Alaska and he said there are streams full of beautiful coral cobbles in some areas but since everyone flies in and weight is an issue, no one collects it except on a couple of islands where you can collect by boat. The high contrast black and white type is friggin awesome but has been super expensive for as far back as I was hitting Quartzite. All I've seen though is fairly soft limestone type material, not agate or jasper.....Mel
PS: That is a variety of tiger eye I've not seen for a long time. Good catch on that one. Unusal type to find.
|
|
Dr DG
fully equipped rock polisher
Gone Fishing
Member since April 2005
Posts: 1,848
|
Post by Dr DG on Jan 18, 2018 16:42:14 GMT -5
Why is dino bone so expensive Mel? I figure there must have been millions of them critters running around, so the bone shouldn't be all that scarce. Not like it's running out...? Here is a pic from their craigslist ad of some dino bone (pic will go away when the ad does I guess) I bought most of the nice pieces on that shelf, but the two big chunks towards the camera I didn't know enough about. Maybe a 25+ lb piece with the red in it and 20ish lbs for the one on the right. Both could be heavier. They were asking like 1200 & 1000 for them. Nice cell structure showing up close, but I have no clue if they are worth the $$. Guess it would be a nice addition to have a big honkin' chunk like that sitting on a shelf here. They have some pieces inside the house that I'm definitely gunning for. Just don't know value. Sabre52 I should only pat 15 a pound for good bone. |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jan 18, 2018 16:47:08 GMT -5
Does anyone know- is that tiger eye more appropriately called Brockman Tiger Eye? A bit better than everyday TE with scenes. Like Marra Mamba? No, this is just regular tiger eye, outta Africa, not Aussie. Got it just because I like bigger than the norm rocks! No, not marra mamba. It's TE from the Brockman mountains. It often is very scenic. |
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 16:55:15 GMT -5
Really Dr DG only 15 bucks a pound? I didn't know. Folks pay a lot more than that for regular rocks. Malachite can go for 30 to 35 bucks a pound for rough. Charoite is over $100 a pound. Guess dino bone ain't all that then if $15 a pound is the going rate. I'm just gonna throw in in milk crates and store it away for when I have time to deal with it anyway. Good to know. There is other stuff there to spend money on. Thanks! |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jan 18, 2018 17:01:22 GMT -5
Really Dr DG only 15 bucks a pound? I didn't know. Folks pay a lot more than that for regular rocks. Malachite can go for 30 to 35 bucks a pound for rough. Charoite is over $100 a pound. Guess dino bone ain't all that then if $15 a pound is the going rate. I'm just gonna throw in in milk crates and store it away for when I have time to deal with it anyway. Good to know. There is other stuff there to spend money on. Thanks! The price is only going to go up, though. I think you have to consider the availability in the future. I think good gem bone is a good investment even if you pay a little more now. The prices I see at auction for slabs are ridiculous and people are snapping it up. |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jan 18, 2018 17:03:05 GMT -5
I bought a bunch of rhodochrosite before the prices started getting too crazy. I can't replace anything I use for those prices.
|
|
Dr DG
fully equipped rock polisher
Gone Fishing
Member since April 2005
Posts: 1,848
|
Post by Dr DG on Jan 18, 2018 18:10:15 GMT -5
I bought a lot a bone rough average of 15 a pound. it really depends on quality and color, but the seller might jack up the price, just because it is bone. I sold top quality whale bone for more than dino bone.
|
|
|
|
Post by captbob on Jan 18, 2018 18:11:54 GMT -5
Just out on the back porch with the wife unit - letting the dogs out - and I told her that I was going back to Cocoa on Saturday. Back porch where all these latest rocks are. She said: I'll kill you if you die and leave me with all these rocks to deal with. I replied: I'll already be dead. She said: I'll kill you again! Mission Accomplished!  |
|
