thread hijack whoops........ sorry Martin 
Clams and Mussles from Coober Pedy
- Thread starter Martin
- Start date
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- Aug 16, 2018
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Lefty said:As much as they might be worth, if I find something like that myself, I think I'd have difficulty parting with it
Nail/head. I'm not so much a collector as a hoarder (lol @ myself
). About 2 years ago, my exasperated, long-suffering partner convinced me to go through a pile of boxes in the spare room, some dating back to the early 1990's .It turned out to be like a treasure hunt!
I found a number of wonderful things that I'd forgotten about, including some terrific opalised specimens from Coober Pedy eg a huge clam shell in situ wrapped in 1990 newspaper. I remember the miner I got it from, but not how much I paid for it or even why I bought it other than to say it probably looked "interesting" to me at the time. All that was showing was a patch of the shell about 50 x 30mm showing the distinct raised lines of the exterior. Over the years the host rock had dried out so much that it had softened and was easy to skritch away, like hardened talcum powder. after some earnest scratching and toothbrush-cleaning this was revealed, to my astonished delight:
Another view:
There were several other pieces as well --- snail shells, some cut stones, several Mintabie specimens showing gem seam opal in situ (similar to Andamooka "painted ladies"), and even my great-Grandma's wedding ring which I thought had been lost :8 .
I gave the clam shell to my best mate who later donated it to the AOC in the Ridge, I believe. Even then it was hard to part with, but he really loved that piece.
numpty said:
BEAUTIFUL !!!!!
:Y: :Y: :Y:
