MURFREESBORO, Ark.-
A Texas couple found a 6.35-carat diamond Saturday at the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park. The diamond was the eighth largest found at the site since it became a state park in 1972. It also was the largest diamond find in eight years, according to a news release from the park.
Donald and Brenda Roden of Point, Texas, named their gem the Roden Diamond; they weren’t certain Saturday if they would eventually sell it.
Park Superintendent Tom Stolarz said the diamond was about the same size and color as a large coffee bean. It has a somewhat distorted octahedral shape and a metallic-looking shine that is characteristic of diamonds from the crater.
Since the state park opened, 25,714 diamonds have been discovered. Each day, one or two diamonds are found at the park.
Diamonds come in different colors, and the three most common found at the Arkansas park are white, brown and yellow, in that order.
The park is the world’s only publicly-operated diamond site where the public is allowed to search and keep any gems they find. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924. Named the Uncle Sam, the white diamond weighed 40.23 carats.
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