Opal (rare locality)

Item Description

A rarely seen specimen of Precious Opal labeled as coming from Wild Horse Canyon, which is located in the Mojave National Preserve in California. The piece shows banded layers ranging from mustard-yellow hues to pinkish-orange and rich "smoky" tones to almost completely white, with a waxy luster. The piece shows bright green fluorescence under SW UV light, and pale yellow fluorescence under LW UV light.
From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#6964a). 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.