Quartz (Chalcedony) replacing Coral (2 piece set) (RARE LOCALITY!) (ex Al Kidwell Collection)

Item Description

This is something that you may never seen again. While it's not uncommon to find specimens of Quartz (var Chalcedony) replacing Coral from the Gulf Coast of Florida, this set comes from the famed Caladesi Island a state park located across St. Joseph Sound to the west of Dunedin and north of Clearwater Beach. I've seen many pieces of Quartz after Coral labeled simply as coming from "Tampa Bay", but the fact that this one specifically says it's from Caladesi Island is a big deal, primarily because you're not supposed to take things from a state park in Florida. This set started out as a beautiful hollow "tube"-like formation of Coral that was pseudomorphed by Quartz, and later sawn in half to reveal the lovely botryoidal formations inside. The pieces fit back together quite well as you can see, but it's the rich warm hues and eye-catching shapes inside that make this such an intriguing and desirable set. If you collect mineral oddities, rare locality specimens or just unique esoteric pieces (especially pseudomorphs), don't pass this one up, as this is the only example we've had from this locality. From the worldwide mineral collection of Albert Lewis Kidwell (January 1, 1919 - August 16, 2008). Al was a well-known mineral collector and research geologist with Carter Oil Company and later Exxon Oil Company in Houston, Texas. The phosphate species Kidwellite was named in his honor in 1974.