Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Opal => Topic started by: lmo1972 on November 05, 2025, 09:47:15 PM
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Hello,
I am new here to the forum and I am also very new to rocks. I am a crystal lover at heart; and by crystals, I mean the ones that make they biggest rainbows (which I haven't found yet). Anyway this is a great forum and I have learned a lot so far, I thought I would reach out for some help. My story is this....I bought a storage unit and it had some rocks, minerals, fossils, and some supplies. As I said I know nothing about this topic but found out a few things looking around on this site but I chose a few different ones I am trying to get info on for selling. I have no idea what I would sell these pieces for so I thought I would check here for my opal questions. Here are some pictures of what I have below, if I am taking pics wrong please let me know how I can do it better for you to help. The first thing is these are in water and I don't know why but I just left them as is, the only thing I know is the sticky note on the containers said Opal and that they are sitting in water (I think it is water but not even sure of that)
Any and all info would be greatly appreciated
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pic #2
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Pic #3
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That is common opal with no fire. It looks li it came from the opal pits near George Washington.
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They've probably been sitting in water for a while, so treat it as pond water - no open cuts on hands, etc.
To look for the colour flash, you will need a point light source, like Sun or a bright spotlight or flashlight with high CRI (CRI over 90 would be good).
Take each piece out and look carefully around the edges where opal is exposed (the pictures you posted only show areas covered by the rind, so we can't see much). If you notice any flashes of colour, take pictures and that should help you assess the value and advertise the sale if that's what you want to do.