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Agate comes in most colors. Agates range from transparent to opaque in a variety of beautiful colors. It presents various tints in the same specimen. The stones can be artificially stained to produce combinations of color more vivid than those found in the natural state.
There are several types of agate. Varieties include Blue, Blue Lace, Crazy Lace, Green, Indian, Moss, Tree and Wood. The Moss agate or mocha stone contains visible impurities in the form that resemble moss.
Birthstone: Agate is the birthstone of Taurus (Bull): April 20 - May 20.
Wedding anniversary: Agate is the anniversary gemstone for the 12th year of marriage. Moss Agate is the anniversary gemstone for the 14th year of marriage. (Continued below...)
Agate is a semipellucid crystallized quartz, consisting of banded or with branching inclusions chalcedony. Agate has irregular, sometimes circular bands of color and often replaces fossil wood. Many fossils are agatized material where the original organic substance has been replaced by agate while retaining the original structure. Agates are identical in chemical structure to jasper , flint, chert, bloodstone , and tiger-eye , and are often found in association with opal .
Agate was discovered with the Stone Age man in France 20,000-16,000 BC. The Egyptians used it prior to 3000 BC. Agate was highly valued by ancient civilizations, said by the ancients to render the wearer invisible. The agate-working industry grew up centuries ago in the Idar-Oberstein district of Germany, where agates were abundant.
Agate is cooling stone, reputed to reduces fever, quench thirst, and benefit the stomach area. It is thought to quiet the pulse and heart throbs and insure good health and a long and prosperous life. Agate was thought to guard against danger, and make wearers temperate, continent and cautious. It supposedly helps people view themselves with more clarity and see the world through a broader viewpoint. Wearing agate is believed to cure insomnia and to insure pleasant dreams.
Important sources of agate are Russia (Ural mountains), Brazil, Eygpt, Germany, India, Italy, Madagascar, Mexico, Uruguay and the USA (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana ).
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Various natural agates
 SOURCE http://www.all-that-gifts.com/se/agate.html
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