Ballast Point, Tampa Bay, Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida

This is quite an unusual specimen of Tampa Bay Coral with its three dimensional aspect. The inner white botryoidal form which has been sawn into exhibits the growth layers of chalcedony within. Tampa Bay coral is a Quartz replacement which has been dated as being from the Oligocene to Miocene periodw with an age of between 20 to 30 million years. Although, once plentiful, after almost 200 years of being collected it has become increasingly hard to find. This particular location is now covered with expensive homes and off limits to collecting. A note regarding the specimen: It has NOT been polished, but rather coated with a lacquer or varnish on the sawed sides. And although this has not yellowed with time, there are some rough saw marks. It is still an attractive, striking specimen and would have been more expensive if finished better.

From the Don Langham collection

10.2 x 6.5 x 6.3 cm

$45      Click here to order this mineral.