jt20 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 (edited) Hi all, I bought this fossil a while back and some friends believe it is fake. Perhaps you all could figure it out from my rather poor picture that I have posted. I have zero information on the source of this fossil. It is quite solid, I see no fissures, dense like a rock, has a flakey outer layer or two but the inside is solid. Thank you. Edited April 3, 2012 by jt20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nieuwendaal Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I very seriously doubt that it is fake , there are so many ammonites , it wouldn't be worth the time of faking one ! A guy once told me not to buy Chinese ammonites because most of them are fake . I think he just wanted me to buy his . I have hundreds of ammonites & some of my best ones I got from China . I've been ripped off a lot of times on ammonites , because buying on line , a lot of the fossil dealers only show one side of the ammonite . Which is something Chinese dealers don't usually do ! But watch out for those UK dealers ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymig Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Its hard to tell by your pic (little blurry) but it looks real. Some of my best ammonites came from a UK dealer. Fossil collecting is like collecting anything else, do your homework. Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt20 Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) I definitely bought this before knowing anything other than that it felt like stone and held heat as a stone would. It was purchased on the street in a southern American country. Here are some better pictures. Thank you for the responses. Edited April 4, 2012 by jt20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Looks pyritized, which could make it look fake. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymig Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I was gonna say it looks like an ammonite from Peru. They sometimes put black shoe polish on them. Still real just color added. Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt20 Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) Looks pyritized, which could make it look fake. Would that involve having shiny particles in the media?... or just something one might do to the exterior? Edited April 4, 2012 by jt20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 With the new pictures, I'll go on record as believing it is real. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Would that involve having shiny particles in the media?... or just something one might do to the exterior? I don't know enough to explain it myself, but it's kind of a natural, sometimes beautiful curse that some fossils have. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permineralization Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vordigern Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I think Bullsnakes right, looks like a real pyritized ammonite to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I can't say exactly what it is, there are too many Ammos from various layers which look similar to it and I'm not at all familiar with south american fauna, but one thing is for sure: It's real and not a fake. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Looks real to me. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 The way the outer part of the whorl is crushed tells me it's definitely real. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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