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Author Topic: Virgin Valley Opalized wood  (Read 5433 times)

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PhilNM

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #15 on: October 23, 2016, 04:51:22 PM »

This raw material has been drying in a garage in New Mexico for about 17 years.... stable enough for you? We have no idea what it should sell for, that's why I asked in the first place. Here, in our gem and mineral shows, people won't even pay $5 per carat! It just doesn't sell! So.... where can I get this magic $25 to $50 per carat you refer to?
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #16 on: October 23, 2016, 06:01:13 PM »

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Robin

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #17 on: October 23, 2016, 08:44:32 PM »

You could try Opal Auctions.  See here:  https://www.opalauctions.com/auctions/american-opal/american-opal-stones/virgin-valley-opal-stones/
Good luck getting accepted as a seller there.  They didn't even bother to respond to my detailed request some time back. 

Another possibility, though it involves travel, might be The American Opal Society show coming up Nov. 5 & 6 in Anaheim, CA.  It's late for dealer acceptance but I can put you in touch with the AOS dealer contact if you're interested. 
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #18 on: October 24, 2016, 08:07:45 AM »

Yeah, I know they've gotten weird.  Of course, you can always try Ebay and do an auction with a reserve on it.   :dontknow:
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Robin

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #19 on: October 24, 2016, 11:53:07 AM »

I have both paid and sold in the price range I mentioned years ago when putting together a couple collections of official state gemstones. Prices haven't come down on VV since (unlike some other opals that have been affected by the Welo opal that flooded the market a few years ago). You could try ebay, but even though those are below-wholesale prices, it will take time to sell (mostly bargain-bin buyers). You might try posting over at the OpalholicsAnonymous board, as there is at least one guy (swordfishmining) who regularly posts over there who mines and sells VV opal. He might have some suggestions on where to sell. When I checked just now, the board was offline (they mentioned last night that they were dealing with an outage yesterday, too - wondering whether its something related to the widespread DNS Internet attack that several other major sites have been fighting off the last few days), but I expect it will be back up fairly quickly. If you really decide to let it go at $5 per carat, I'd find some way to grab it - but I believe you can do much better with collectors with deeper pockets than mine.

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PhilNM

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #20 on: October 24, 2016, 02:42:44 PM »

Thanks. we haven't decided, but I'm of the persuasion that a fast nickle beats a slow dime...
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55fossil

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #21 on: October 25, 2016, 07:31:36 AM »

Phil;    Chill dude, it was an honest question. There have been so many people selling "stabilized" and stable VV opal... you know the drill. I love opal and it is really great you have found some of the stable VV material because there is not much of it. All the material I have collected at VV in the past had to go into water but it was still beautiful. You are a lucky guy to get the good stuff.
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freeformcabs

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Re: Virgin Valley Opalized wood
« Reply #22 on: November 30, 2016, 09:30:07 AM »

Very nice!
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~Shain


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