Nipomo Sagenite Agate Slabs

North of Los Angeles on the California coast lies the small town of San Marino and nearby there  is a smaller town named Nipomo. Around these towns there are a lot of beans grown and these beanfields yielded a new crop of agates when they were plowed in the spring. These agates were good, at times great, and were avidly collected, though never abundant. This was a long time ago and for decades no collecting has been allowed, the beanfields are owned by agri-business type farmers and the few large owners are mindful of the insurance risks of allowing folks to go in their fields. Not all rockhounds are respectful of the landowners concerns, so that is another problem. These agates have always been highly prized and there have been amazing specimens in great variety from these sources. The run of the mill specimen have brown sagenite sprays after zeolites in brown to white or clear agate and in some specimens marcasite crystals form a rough approximation of a plume. The sagenite is the fine ‘rabbit hair’ variety.