Opal var: Opal-AN (RARE locality specimen) (fluorescent)

Item Description

Opal specimens from the Crestmore Quarries are virtually impossible to find on the market, and this particular piece is arguably the best example that we've had to offer from the locality in the auctions. This small cabinet sized piece hosts gemmy, colorless "bead"-like groups of Opal var: Opal-AN (formerly "Hyalite" Opal) which has formed over typical grey-blue Calcite matrix for the locality. It should be noted that "Hyalite" is an archaic term for this material, as it is now classified as Opal-AN a variety of Opal with an amorphous botryoidal form that shows a glass-like structure. The entry on mindat.org states, "the 'A' in the name stands for amorphous; the subscript 'N' is to imply its structure is network-like similar to silica glass". Like nearly all "Hyalite" specimens, this piece shows a bright green fluorescence under SW UV light. The piece originally belonged to Jack Schwartz. A cool rare locality specimen that you can only find in such an extensive and eclectic collection like George's.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 212 CA.2; 9438 George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information