One of the world’s largest opals up for auction

Alaska auctioneer Nick Cline received a call out of the blue last October.  The man said had one of the world's largest opals, and he wanted to auction it off.  Any suspicious thoughts Cline had about it washed away when he saw the nearly 12,000 carat opal. It was found in the 1950s in the opal fields of Coober Pedy, Australia. 

Dubbed "Americus Australis," it's the sister gem to the even larger Olympic Australis, named after the Summer Olympic Games held in Australia in 1956.   The gem will be offered at auction Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, with an opening bid set at $125,000.