Fire Opal Nodule (rare locality specimen) (ex Bill and Anne Cook Collection)

Item Description

Here we have an odd and certainly rarely seen nodule of Fire Opal labeled only as coming from "Sudan, Africa". The piece is similar to what you might find from Queretaro, Mexico, but it has an old Rocksmiths label, which is more than credible. I've never seen a piece of Opal from Sudan prior to this one (I've only seen a handful of pieces of Gold from Sudan and nothing else in my life from the country), and it's a must-have piece to add to any collection of worldwide Opals, or unusual locality specimens. The piece is essentially a semi-spherical ball of rhyolite, which contains gemmy Fire Opal in the center, and was cracked open to expose the beauty within. The colors range from strong red and orange tones to a soft creamy pinkish shade on one edge. If you shine a light into the large exposed portion of the Opal, you can see the rich orange-red FIERY hue than glows within when the piece is viewed from the side. A really cool Fire Opal specimen from an unlikely place in the world. From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio. This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.