For $600, potential bidders could “buy it now.” The Virgin Valley Black Fire Opal is No. 1 in Nevada’s state gemstone pecking order. The opal is the Silver State’s official “precious ...

Few realize that the world’s most famous black fire opal – the official Nevada State Gem – was discovered in Nevada’s remote Virgin Valley in 1918. Col. W.A. Roebling, a civil engineer who helped ...