Opal fossils at Lightning Ridge have been found to date back to the Cretaceous Period from 144 million years ago. Opal has a very long history; opal artifacts have been discovered in East Africa that are several thousand years old.
The Romans believed opal to be lucky and they established it as a gemstone, obtaining their supplies from traders in the Middle East. The Roman name opalus is based on an ancient Indian word meaning precious stone. The Romans valued opal above all other gems, believing it to combine the beauty of all precious gems. It is well documented in Roman history that Caesars gave their wives opal for good luck. The opal in Roman times was believed to have come from the Hungarian opal mines which operated right up until 1932.
When high quality Australian opal appeared on the market in the 1890's it became a serious threat to the diamond industry and it is understood that diamond cartels actively spread the false rumour that opal was an unlucky gem trying to reverse documented history of opal being the 'lucky' stone. Some of this mud stuck and became an 'old wives' tale which is sometimes still repeated today by people who don't know the history.
Sources:
Opals by Fred Ward, Gem Book Publishers, 1997.
Australian Precious Opal by Andrew Cody, 1991.
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