Agates, Geodes & Nodules
click on images for larger views
click on images for larger views
MA11-1 Thunderegg with Agate and Quartz in Rhyolite $35
Mexico
12.1 cm x 8.1 cm x 4.0 cm
This is a very unusual Mexican Thunderegg since the interior is mostly crystalized Quartz. The boundary between the Quartz and the Rhyolite has some banded Agate, as is visible in the close-ups. The other half of this one is in my collection.
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OA11-1 Thunderegg (Agate in Rhyolite) $18
ex Linda St-Cyr
Richardson Ranch, Madras, Jefferson Co., Oregon
6.5 cm x 5.0 cm x 2.5 cm
This is a fairly typical Richardson Ranch Thunderegg. What I like about it, is that half of it exhibits "water lines" and half does not.
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OA11-2 Thunderegg (Agate and Quartz in Rhyolite) $38
Dugway Range, Tooele Co., Utah
10.0 cm x 8.5 cm x 4.0 cm
This is quite a pretty thunderegg - one of the prettiest I have ever seen due to the blue Quartz druze inside it. My husband intends to add the other half to our collection. He picked this thunderegg from a hundred others before it was opened, judging by the light weight that it would have a space inside it for crystals to form.
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OA11-3 Thunderegg (Agate and Quartz in Rhyolite) $58
ex Linda St-Cyr RESERVED
Richardson Ranch, Madras, Jefferson Co., Oregon
16.5 cm x 11.5 cm x 8.7 cm
This is the only Richardson Ranch Thunderegg I have ever seen with pink Rhyolite (except for a similar one in my collection). There is a portion of the interior that is loose (not visible in the photo), but it does not fall out because it is trapped by the other rock.
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QA11-2 Thunderegg (Agate in Rhyolite) $16
collected by Jeffrey Anderson
Mont Lyall, Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Canada
4.9 cm x 4.1 cm x 2.3 cm
The site is hundreds of millions of years old, so it is not surprising that many of the Thundereggs have fractures. Millions of years of leaching may also explain the pale colors.
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LP11-01 Agate/Chalcedony variety Jasper $95 SOLD
Valle de las Plumas, Paso de Indios, Chubut, Argentina
13.0 cm x 8.5 cm x 5.1 cm
Dark red botryoidal Chalcedony (variety Jasper) with a polished black and gray Agate rim, sometimes called "Red Fox" Agate.
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CA5-01 Agate $45
Valle Escondido, San Rafael Department, Mendoza, Argentina
5.0 cm x 4.5 cm x 2.3 cm
The opaque white banding and the red inflows are the unusual part of this Agate. Note: the blue in the right-hand photo is an artifact of the Dino-Lite digital microscope (it has LED lighting), and I was unable to remove it, so please use the left-hand photo for correct colors.
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CA5-02 Agate and Quartz $75
Valle Escondido, San Rafael Department, Mendoza, Argentina
5.5 cm x 4.2 cm x 3.1 cm
The pink-orange band is very striking and will definitely grab your attention. The inside is filled with sparkling Quartz and some small islands of Agate.
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CA5-03 Agate with Quartz $65
Valle Escondido, San Rafael Department, Mendoza, Argentina
8.0 cm x 3.3 cm x 3.0 cm
This Agate has some amazing green, red, black, yellow and lavender colors with a little clear sparkling Quartz in the middle and many visible flow channels.
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CA5-04 Agate and Quartz $35
Valle Escondido, San Rafael Department, Mendoza, Argentina
7.8 cm x 4.5 cm x 2.4 cm
Red and orange banding with small yellow spots (see right-hand photo) surround central Quartz and continue under the surface into the outer blue-gray portion of the Agate.
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AG11-2 Agate with Quartz ex J. Höppner with label $22
next to the Steinbach-Hallenberg sports field, Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, Thuringian Forest, Thuringia, Germany
8.2 cm x 6.5 cm x 5 cm
This specimen features a coarse red rind with yellow-pink-white agate surrounding a central opening lined with Quartz crystals.
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AG11-4 Agate & Quartz ex J. Höppner with label $24
Heiterer Blick, Kuhschnappel, Glauchau, Saxony, Germany
8.5 cm x 5.8 cm x 3.2 cm
This specimen displays a coarse red-and-white rind with yellow-white-red agate in the center, and just enough room for some Quartz crystals to terminate.
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AG11-5 Agate ex J. Höppner with label $28
Heiterer Blick, Kuhschnappel, Glauchau, Saxony, Germany
6.4 cm x 5.5 cm x 2.2 cm
What I particularly like about this specimen is the light-blue outline around the entire agate area that is displaced inward about 1 mm from the rind edge, as if the agate or the rind had shrunk and the gap was then filled with colorless agate.
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AG11-11 Agate ex J. Höppner with label $26
Heiterer Blick, Kuhschnappel, Glauchau, Saxony, Germany
5.4 cm x 5.6 cm x 2.6 cm
This agate has a little vug inside which can be seen some Quartz formations (right-hand photo).
click on upper image for larger view
AG11-6 Agate ex J. Höppner with label $24
Am Piel, Zwickau, Saxony, Germany
10.7 cm x 8.3 cm x 5 cm
This odd specimen features a thick brown-black rind with pink and blue agate in the center.
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AG11-7 Agate with Amethyst and Unknown Inclusion
ex J. Höppner with label $36
Am Piel, Zwickau, Saxony, Germany
5.6 cm x 4.9 cm x 2 cm
A very odd specimen with a brown rind, blue agate, and purple Amethyst crystals in the center. At the lower left agate point, there are pale balls of another mineral included in the agate (see photo on right), and where they break the surface, the inclusion is seen to be yellow and fibrous.
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AG11-16 Agate and Quartz ex J. Höppner with label $22
Am Piel, Zwickau, Saxony, Germany
5.0 cm x 4.3 cm x 1.5 cm
A brown rind with blue and white agate and Quartz crystals in the center; see closeup on right.
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AG11-10 Agate with Quartz ex J. Höppner with label $22
Wendelsheim, Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
6 cm x 5 cm x 6 cm
This odd specimen has banded agate whose colors are altered by a system of old cracks that allowed other colors to enter from outside the agate. It probably spent a long time in a weathered soil. The center is partially occupied by crystalline Quartz, but apparently there wasn't enough Quartz to fill the center void, so some gray matrix material takes up about 1/2 the center space. The photo on right shows a closeup of the center.
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AG11-14 Agate and Quartz in Rhyolite ex J. Höppner with label $22
Hartkoppe Mt., Sailauf, Hösbach, Spessart Mts, Franconia, Bavaria, Germany
5.8 cm x 4.4 cm x 2.1 cm
This specimen has a thin layer of red agate, followed by Quartz crystals, followed by more agate inside the crystal layer, as shown in the right-hand photo. The top and bottom of this specimen have been flattened, in light of which the price is lowered. Incidentally, Hartkoppe Mt. is the type locality for the rare manganese mineral Sailaufite, and there is indeed some black mineral present on the back of this agate which might be Sailaufite, but I have not had an analysis done. (And as you might guess, the Spessart Mts are the type locality for Spessartine!)
Left Half, AG11-18L SOLD click on images for larger views Right Half, AG11-18R, $65
Left Half, AG11-18L SOLD click on images for larger views Right Half, AG11-18R, $65
AG11-18 Agate, Medonas dune field, Chihuahua, Mexico
Left half: 7.5 cm x 7.1 cm x 3.2 cm SOLD
Right half: 7.5 cm x 7.1 cm x 2.5 cm $65 (available)
This is a "Snowball" Agate, but it is considerably larger than most Snowballs, and contains pseudomorphs - the hairlike features that agate collectors refer to as "sagenite", not to be confused with mineral collector's "sagenite" (an acicular variety of rutile). Actually, the closeups on the bottom suggest that these features are more like plates than hairs, having considerable depth into the agate.
Left Half click on images for larger views Right Half
Left Half click on images for larger views Right Half
AG11-22 Agate, both halves $100 SOLD
Rancho Agua Nueva (an hour north of Chihuahua City), Chihuahua, Mexico
Left half: 8.8 cm x 4.5 cm x 3.7 cm
Right half: 9.2 cm x 4.5 cm x 3.3 cm
This striking agate has a lavender center speckled with yellow-orange dots (as seen in the lower left closeup) and surrounded by olive green mossy inclusions. The right half also features an interesting red dot seen in the lower right closeup and also visible 1/5 of the way up the large photo on the right top.
Left Half, AG11-27L, $50 click on images for larger views Right Half, AG11-27R, $60
Left Half, AG11-27L, $50 click on images for larger views Right Half, AG11-27R, $60
AG11-27 Agate, both halves $98
Del Ray, Mexico
Left half: 7.3 cm x 7.0 cm x 1.8 cm $50
Right half: 7.6 cm x 7.0 cm x 2.4 cm $60
This beautiful agate has fine thin banding, pink subsurface botryoids, incursions of grainy, orange-red matrix and gray plumes. Del Ray is supposed to be a new locality for fine agates.
Right Half, AG11-29L, $28 click on images for larger views
Left Half, AG11-29L, $32 click on images for larger views
AG11-29 Agate, both halves $54
Del Ray, Mexico
Left half: 7.1 cm x 2.5 cm x 2.7 cm $32
Right half: 6.7 cm x 2.5 cm x 3.3 cm $28
This agate, like the one above, displays agate material penetrating into the surrounding matrix, which lends greens and reds to the blue and pink of the central banded agate. Del Ray is supposed to be a new locality for fine agates.
click on images for larger views
AG11-25 Agate with Quartz $48
Del Ray, Mexico
7.8 cm x 7.2 cm x 2.4 cm
Like the two agates above, this Del Ray displays agate material penetrating into the surrounding porous matrix, this time to the point of making it look plumose. The light lavender-colored banding is enhanced with tiny round bubbles, as can be seen in the photo at right. Del Ray is supposed to be a new locality for fine agates.
Left Half, AG11-20L, $44 click on images for larger views Right Half, AG11-20R SOLD
Left Half, AG11-20L, $44 click on images for larger views Right Half, AG11-20R SOLD
AG11-20 Agate, Asni/Sidi Rahhal, El Kelaâ des Sraghna Province, Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz Region, Morocco
Left half: 6.8 cm x 5.0 cm x 2.2 cm $44 (available)
Right half: 7.7 cm x 5.0 cm x 4.0 cm SOLD
This type of agate is known as Berber agate and comes from the basalt beds that cover a large area from Sidi Rahhal to Asni. These agates both exhibit swirling gray, parallel sheets (as in the upper left of the closeup of the left half), balls of white and red material suspended in clear purplish agate, and small black Goethite needles and blebs with flecks of golden Pyrite (as in the closeup of the right half).
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AG11-3 Agate ex J. Höppner with label $28
near Taddert, High Atlas Mts, Khénifra Province, Meknès-Tafilalet Region, Morocco
9.0 cm x 8.4 cm x 1.2 cm
A nice specimen of red and white agate from Morocco that J. Höppner obtained from the Kessler collection in 1972, so it pre-dates most of the Moroccan agate that has lately come to market.
click on image for larger view
AM11-1 Amethyst Geode $65
Ojo Caliente, Mun. de Ojo Caliente, Zacatecas, Mexico
15 cm x 12.5 cm x 7.5 cm
A nice, large, round geode half, encrusted with rhyolite, filled with crystals of deep purple Amethyst. Once a Mexican classic, they are now difficult to find.
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