Chalcedony / Moganite pseudomorph after Fossil Snail

Item Description

Going back to 2011, there was a find of these interesting fossilized / pseudomorphed snail shells that came out of the Gobi Desert and by a small coincidence, there was a find just a few years ago of incredibly similar material in the Sahara Desert. From what I can tell, the Sahara material is much less common on the market, and we were only able to get our hands on a small parcel. These pieces are gathered by hand by the local Bedouin nomads, so you have to accept the fact that they are not always pristine, but this particular piece is actually very good quality compared to most I've seen. This thumbnail sized specimen is an exceptionally rare and eye-catching pseudomorph / replacement featuring a perfectly fossilized elongated spiral Gastropod (snail) shell which has been transformed in to translucent, golden-orange Chalcedony and white Moganite (a very rare SiO2 modification), which is a minor component of finely crystalline Chalcedony. The piece has excellent luster, but my favorite part is that the small "spines" are actually well-preserved and not all busted. It's complete all the way around with no major damage anywhere. If you like replacement / pseudomorph specimens, these are rare and special, so be sure to pick it up as very few are out there now.