“I’m not a great rockhound. That was my dad.”
This is a phrase I use when writing to friends and customers of KinesavaROCKS. It’s a problem when I try to sell a few rocks.
LOVELOCK NEVADA JASPER
I often have no idea what my dad’s rocks are worth. My standard method is to browse the web and try to find something similar that somebody else is selling. That often doesn’t work very well. But I’ve noticed that other rock sellers seem to have a similar problem. Prices for some rocks are just all over the map. I just have to guess about a fair price.
Prices at sites like Etsy (where I used to have a store) or Ebay are sometimes so high that you can see the curvature of the Earth from where they are. Or, sometimes the rock is listed by a front for a third-world jewelry factory – where production volume is king. It depends on whether the factory has obtained a supply of some type of rock. Sometimes the rock was part of a collection – like the one my dad left behind – that was bought up by a middleman and sold to the factory. A large collection can produce a flood of very inexpensive beads. Prices can scrape the bottom. I’ve seen it happen with Utah agatized barite and Utah Tempskya Fern.
Some rocks have managed to enter a “Twilight Zone” of prices. An example is Yellowcat Wood. ‘Prestige’ auction sites have sold it at prices in “five figures”.
A rock has to have three properties to reach stratospheric prices.
There has to be a strictly limited supply. For half a century, every last sand grain of Yellowcat Wood has been picked up in the limited area where it was found. There’s no more out there in the desert.
It has to be very identifiable. Some Yellowcat Wood has an established provenance. That means that a reliable record exists about where it was found and who found it. Authentic Yellowcat also has color, bark, and an internal structure that makes it easier to identify.
It has to “catch fire” with "investment rockhounds". This is the hardest part. What made tulip bulb prices in Holland go through the roof in 1636? Why does just one 24 cent “Inverted Jenny” stamp sell for a million dollars – Each – At auction – today?
When you find the magic formula for condition 3, tell me about it. My dad had a lot of rocks that satisfy the first two conditions. The third one is a killer.
If you’re interested in buying, I recommend very careful shopping above all else. There are more legitimate bargains in online rocks than any other category I can think of – mainly because there is so much confusion out there. I also recommend making quintuple certain that you’re dealing with someone real. Angelo, another friend, told me that after a very long search, he finally located a great chunk of Yellowcat Wood at a bargain price. My dad, who hunted the same desert locations over fifty years ago, only had one rock in his collection that is equal to the piece that my friend Angelo finally found.
I also recommend avoiding the “prestige” auction sites unless you are one of the ultra-rich. There are enough ultra-rich people out there to outbid the rest of us every time for the “prestige” rocks they sell. And I haven’t seen any real bargains at their auctions. One thing the “prestige” auction sites are not is “confused”. They know what the highest price a rock might bring better than anybody else.
If you are confused, be very careful. I have seen some amazing rocks sold for even more amazing prices. I have also seen a few duds go for more than they’re actually worth.
One type of rock in my dad’s collection has been a puzzle for me. I call it Nevada Lovelock Jasper and I was with my dad when he collected it. I’ve never seen this specific jasper for sale anywhere else, but I know it will never be really valuable because there are dozens, probably hundreds, of small jasper mines all over the “Winnemucca Triangle”.
Most of the jasper found in this area sells for more moderate prices based on beauty and solid, crack-free rock. Metamorphized rhyolite – which is what most jasper in this region is – has a common geological origin. But you can still find people trying to ignite demand for their local rock. Bruneau Jasper made a pretty good run at nosebleed prices for a while. You can still find people asking hundreds of dollars for a chunk. Who knows? It might catch fire. It’s a beautiful rock and it’s very hard to find “in the wild” now. If you’re an “investment” rockhound, you could do worse.
I made a breakthrough in understanding what my dad’s Lovelock Jasper is worth a few days ago. I have to thank my friend and customer Trent for the inspiration. Trent has been reading about rocks used in whetstones like the famous Coticule from the Belgian Ardennes in Europe. It’s a sedimentary rock consisting of volcanic ash and clay. We have rocks consisting of volcanic ash and clay here! We call it “Jasper”. So, Trent is getting a nice four-pound Lovelock Nevada Jasper and he’s going to take a shot at making his own whetstone.
We’ll keep you posted on his progress.
Progress Report #1 from Trent (Oct 27, 2023)
Got the rock! It's the perfect size. And flat enough that I don't think I have to take the top and bottom to the saw. Here's my plan:
1. Take it to my 10" saw and cut off the sides to make a rectangle
2. Clamp in place and use an angle grinder to get it mostly flat
3. Use a diamond plate to get it fully flat on all sides
Should come out around 6"x2"x1.5"
---------------------
Trent completed sawing the rock at this YouTube video:
Here we go! I haven't tried sharpening a knife on it yet. I just finished it a couple hours and then downloaded a video editor to make this video. Was really fun!
Pics of the before and after
---------------------
I decided to do a little more searching to decide on a reasonable price for Trent’s Jasper. This time, I hit paydirt! I found a rock that was “almost” a duplicate, even though it’s found hundreds of miles away in a dusty corner of Nevada near a town called McDermitt. The rock is called “Gary Green Jasper” and it’s also known as “Larsonite”. My dad’s “Lovelock Jasper” usually doesn’t have a lot of green, but it sometimes has blue and I didn’t see any blue in Gary Green Jasper. Other than that, it could be a twin.
McDermitt may not be the end of the Earth, but the actual end is probably just down the road from it. Winnemucca, Nevada is over 70 miles away and Nampa, Idaho is over twice as far in the other direction.
Wikipedia – “McDermitt's economy has historically been based on mining, ranching, and farming.” In 1985, 99% of the mercury mined in the US came from McDermitt mines. But, sadly, the last mining operation closed in 1990. That might account for the population being down 75% in the 2020 census. Population currently stands at 124. Wikipedia notes that it has “hot, dry summers and cold winters”. McDermitt might give Eden Valley, Wyoming competition as the worst place in the US that also has rocks. But it does have the Nevada record for the longest continuous weather information. The army started reporting the McDermitt weather in 1866.
But then, they’re known to complain about things in the Army. I know I did.
Once I knew what to look for, I found a number of web sites with a lot of information about Gary Green Jasper. Those sites claim that there is still good rock to be found there. Summer is over and winter hasn’t quite arrived. You might want to check it out. Let us know if there is still a gas station there.
Oh! i can’t believe I forgot to mention, one of the best rocks for whetstones is novaculite, commonly found in Arkansas. Never made my own sharpening stone but it’s got quite a reputation for producing sharp & clean edges on whatever you try.
Super excited to see how this experiment goes! Thanks for the write up Dan.
As always it’s been a pleasure to read This article Dan! I’ve always found it quite interesting what makes certain rocks so pricey sometimes it’s the fact it was all mined out in the 60s or 70s. However it would seem the Internet has a huge part to due with what some rocks go for depending how popular they are. An example of this is moldavite a well known stone that due to being make famous on “tik tok“ has gone skyrocket high on its pricing. Maybe one of these days I’ll make it out There to rockhound if I do I’ll let you know what I find!
I love love love so much the way you write and look forward to your posts with anticipation even though I don’t always comment (I often read at work as a bright spot in my miserable work day). Your blog is like talking to an old friend and just really easy to get immersed in with its down to earth writing style. It’s like a literary hug with the simple joy it brings me.
If you ever write a book about your rock adventures I would buy a copy in a hot second!! If I ever manage to get a US mailing address (or heaven forbid, make a trip out your way) watch out :)