An excellent palm stone of Rainbow Flint, from the original source of this material. (A.k.a. Vanport Chert, from Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio).

Flint Ridge, Ohio is world-famous for having beds of extremely colorful & complexly-patterned chert. For flint knappers and mineral collectors, "flint" is perceived to be high-quality and high-purity, while "chert" is low-quality and low-purity. These are arbitrary, imprecise, not well-demarcated definitions. "Chert" is the proper term for cryptocrystalline quartzose sedimentary rock. Chert is glasslike in its hardness and in its ability to withstand weathering. It takes a beautiful polish! In fact, it is so much more resistant to breakdown than the surrounding carbonate rocks, that the chert fragments remain long after the limestone or dolomite has weathered away and developed into soil.

The "Flint Ridge Flint" is properly known as the Vanport Flint. Vanport Flint is the largest flint-collecting pit at Nethers Flint Quarries near the eastern end of Flint Ridge, Ohio.

A nice addition to an enthusiast's collection!