Opal (Precious Opal)

Item Description

Dubnik was arguably the greatest "old word" Opal locality, producing some of the first and best-known examples of multi-color Opals, long before the material was discovered in Australia. History says that Dubnik was the largest, oldest and most significant Opal deposit in Europe which has evidence of dating back to the times of the Romans. This piece features an attractive translucent, patch of Precious Opal on minor volcanic matrix. When backlit, the Opal shows a lovely golden-orange hue. A nice reference specimen of this well known material. From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#10882-b). 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.