Is this real trilobite? Is this just fantasy?

[LeoMD]

Hi guys!

First things first, I've been following this forum (and this section inter alia) for a good year, I simply love the community, so I decided to join it and actively participate instead of being just an external viewer. I'm not a fossil expert, but I'm willing to learn and I'll do my best to improve.

 

But I guess that since this is a fossil lovers community, it's fossils what you want to see. Well...

 

I inherited from a granduncle of mine a LOT of minerals -geodes, crystals, nuggets etc- and fossils (I hope I can show you my collection over time), including ammonites -guess that guy litterally LOVED ammonites- of all shapes and sizes, dinosaur, shark and mammoth teeth, amber with insect inclusions and many many other things... including trilobites.

 

The largest trilobite I got is this: it's a 27x17x4cm piece, not the best I've seen in my life but still pretty good IMO. No idea of where he got it, nor when, not even how much he paid for it.

Still, I'm pretty sure it's a fake.

But before officially confirming that my granduncle threw his money away with this, I'd like to ask you a second opinion.

Thanks for your help, I'm sure he would really appreciate it (pretty sure atm he's resting in Paradise, surrounded by his beloved ammonites).

 

(if you'd like to see more photos, just ask)

[Huntonia]

These kinds of trilobites almost always have extensive restoration, this one looks to be about normal to me although these ones are not my expertise. Most likely some of it is real. How much I'm not entirely sure. @piranha can probably give you a good estimate of restoration percentage. I wouldn't tell people its 100% genuine but it's a cool display piece. 

[steelhead9]

1 hour ago, Huntonia said:

These kinds of trilobites almost always have extensive restoration, this one looks to be about normal to me although these ones are not my expertise. Most likely some of it is real. How much I'm not entirely sure. @piranha can probably give you a good estimate of restoration percentage. I wouldn't tell people its 100% genuine but it's a cool display piece. 

"Extensive" would be the key word here!

[Fitch1979]

Well ...next to the ugly varnish .. there is quite something to tell about this cambropallas .. 

 

 

[aeon.rocks]

Yep, and there's more resto in other parts...

 

[LeoMD]

On 10/12/2019 at 11:12 PM, steelhead9 said:

"Extensive" would be the key word here!

So extensive I thought it was entirely handmade 

 

On 11/12/2019 at 11:01 PM, Fitch1979 said:

Well ...next to the ugly varnish .. there is quite something to tell about this cambropallas .. 

They went hard with varnish indeed... IMHO I would have left it as it was rather than trying to make it appear complete at all costs, but of course it's a matter of individual tastes.

Also what looked weird to me was the pygidium, which looks pretty asymmetrical (though it can happen, as far as I know) and the right side looks "folded", like it was pressed: still, I'm not an expert and maybe it's definitely a normal finding.