Petrified wood from Ginkgo Petrified Forest
The collection is a family heirloom… they’ve had it since the 1930’s I believe and I recently inherited it. I have some very large pieces as well. I have several crates full of the petrified wood.
Several different sizes
Inherited
Yes
Petrified Ginkgo Wood Slab, Logs, and Polished Sections
Miocene (23.03 to 5.33 million years ago)
Wanapum Basalt Formation
Washington, United States
Petrified Ginkgo Wood is well-known to serious collectors. From the "Vantage" site in Washington, these examples represent a series of colors and mineralizations with multiple bands of various hues. The wild range of color and clarity is due to the large amount of silica developed by the ancient trees.
Petrified Ginkgo examples are located along North America's Pacific coast and the Pacific coast the Asia continent. After the end of the Miocene, Ginkgo was no longer represented in the fossil record, with the only native living population in China. All living Ginkgo seen today originated from a small grove there.
Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park in Washington State originated in the 1930s when highway workers discovered petrified wood in the area. It is unknown if these examples were collected from private lands, but the items were inherited and have been in the current owners family for an undisclosed number of years.
Petrified ginkgo wood is rare and highly collectible. I suggest contacting a regional University or Musuem for an in-person evaluation with a few sections from the collection; a small polished and unpolished specimen for a specialist to review under a microscope to confirm it is a Ginkgo specimen.
This is an assessment from images, of a large collection of petrified wood. Some examples my be chert nodules or other, more recent petrified wood examples. The polished examples do appear to be ginkgo. It is difficult to give an accurate assessment on the FMV for so many examples. The range is wide, but again, I believe ti may be worth the effort of consulting with an in-person appraiser. A community library reference desk may be able to help you find free, local, assessment options. A regional auction house may charge a fee for assessment. I do suggest taking several small examples to have reviewed.
Thank you for the additional time and the additional images. Good luck with your collection sales! Taking a few sections to a regional geology or mineral show may also be helpful; remain reserved about the amount of specimens you have, so the value discussed if about the selections you bring.
Never mind I was able to add more pics. There’s one that looks like it may be of the ginkgo leaf, but he says some of the logs are too.
I’m not able to add more pics but he says he collected the items from the ginkgo petrified forest area.. around the Vantage Washington area for many decades growing up. He says there are ginkgo tree pieces but I wouldn’t know what I’m looking for… Google is a little helpful I guess lol