W023 / Oregon

Holley Blue agate

Chalcedony; locality/trade-name agate

Pale lavender to purplish translucent chalcedony is the strongest visual starting point. Compare both rough surfaces and cut interiors; the name “Blue” should not restrict the filter to blue alone.

← Western Lapidary Materials
Holley Blue agate — source-labelled reference specimen
Sawn lavender/purple chalcedony with tan/cream margins and visible saw scratches; not a polished finished cabochon.

James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · No changes

Source-labelled comparison; locality not independently authenticated. Does not authenticate an inherited specimen.

Image source and provenance · License

What it is

Chalcedony; locality/trade-name agate

What to look for

Pale lavender to purplish translucent chalcedony is the strongest visual starting point. Compare both rough surfaces and cut interiors; the name “Blue” should not restrict the filter to blue alone.

At the cutting bench

Reference photos support rough/cut comparison. Actual soundness, saw orientation and yield must be assessed per piece; no deposit-specific fracture or polish tests verified. Use normal silica-dust controls; no dry grinding.

Under the loupe

Other lavender chalcedonies, dyed chalcedony and other Oregon agates may resemble it. Color alone cannot distinguish origin. Reference coloration is affected by lighting and thickness.

Source & collecting access

2026 extraction/access UNKNOWN. No landowner permission or current claim status verified. Do not infer availability from dealer stock.

Status checked 2026-10-01

The market notebook

No verified current price or sold sample retained.

Market researched 2026-10-01

Open the field notes

Color comparison tags

Purple/Lavender, Blue, White/Cream/Clear

Geology & evidence limits

The 2017 photographer states host and age unknown. His 2020 caption identifies weathered tholeiitic basalt of the Oligocene Little Butte Volcanic Series. Retain as a later source claim, not independently confirmed deposit geology.

Collecting & trade history

Historic UNL label uses Holly spelling; modern photo sources use Holley. Exact synonym boundaries and the Calapooia alias need label-level corroboration.

Reading old-stock material

Preserve original labels, receipts, packaging and associated pieces. Old-stock age does not authenticate a locality or justify a rarity premium.

How to read the color tags

Comparison tags, not origin evidence; non-dominant/secondary colors vary by specimen.

Still unresolved

Independent deposit mapping/host age; Current legal access and extraction; Additional independently provenanced slab examples; Current asking and realized sale samples

What we know—and what we don’t

Visual resemblance is a comparison clue, not proof of material identity, locality or documented provenance. Keep source labels and estate records separate from your visual assessment.

C&C Reference Collection

Reference examples are source-labelled and do not authenticate the locality of an unlabelled specimen.

Sources & Further Reading
  1. University of Nebraska–Lincoln historical agate database

    Historical specimen-label/bibliography evidence; not current access or image permission

  2. Holley Blue rough specimen / James St. John

    2017 source explicitly uncertain about host, age and exact locality; photograph CC BY 2.0.

  3. Holley Blue specimen 7 / James St. John

    2020 source assigns Oligocene Little Butte volcanic host, without site or geological citation. Claim not independently resolved; CC BY 2.0 image.

Cut and polish with appropriate wet methods and silica-dust controls. Historic directions and mine names are not current permission to collect.