Koss1959 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I much prefer to find my own. Makes them that more special. I'm. Sure a few of you agree. But with fossiling, you have to deal with what you've been given. There may be a fossil that you really badly want in your collection but finding one is impractical due to that particular fossil being thousands of miles away. And then the slim chance of finding one. Anyway, I digress. I bought the only fossil I've ever said I would and it got delivered today. I'm over the moon. A genuine Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth. [url= I got it cheaper than usual as the tip has been repaired. It had broken off but was professional fixed, not restored. Serrations are in tact,, but hard to photograph. Etsy shop for Dinosaur Art: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/IzzyBeeCreates?ref=seller-platform-mcnav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I too never buy fossils as it really isn't the fossils I'm interested in but the experience of finding them. I love the thrill of the hunt. The fossils I have spread out throughout the house (and sitting to my right on my desk as I type this) are, along with photographs of their collection, merely reminders--relics--of fond experiences. That being said, I think it could soundly be argued at T. rex is probably the most famous and likely the first dinosaur to be mentioned if someone was asked to name a dinosaur. So how cool is that to have a bit from the business end of a T. rex? If I lived in a state where such teeth were to be found I'd likely spend a lot of time in the field trying to beat the longs odds to find one. You've taken the shortcut to owning this item on your fossil bucket list and can now experience holding this item and imagining being used by its former owner in some gruesome feeding frenzy. This now frees up the time you have to spend to find one on your own and I'm sure you'll use that time to knock many more attainable items off your fossil bucket list. -Ken P.S.: No one on this forum would likely think any worse of you if you held on to your new acquisition the next time you watched Jurassic Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I don't really hunt fossils, I just find them. I find that when I purposely try to hunt fossils, I'm disappointed in not finding any. If I'm just going out exporing, then they are more likely to appear. I go for nature walks and look at everything. The fossils just happen to be in the way. But often I'm driving along and see what might be a source of fossils in a road cut or in fill material on the side of the road. Here in Florida the fill material is often fossil rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Great specimen! And I echo yours and others views in this thread that finding fossils is far more satisfying. I was a fossil buyer for the last 8 years because that was the only way that I could add vertebrate fossils to my collection due to my location. But now that I've finally started finding my own vertebrate stuff In England i realize what I've been missing out on for all these years. Buying fossils could be a thing of the past for me or at least rarely. "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 i've bought a few, sold a few for gas money, traded a few, and given away a ton. as for my collection, i like to keep it at over 90% self found. if i own it but didn't find it, chances are i prepped it. i just don't want a house full of meaningless things to which my only personal attachment is a receipt. that's why most of my fossils have a back story, the animal heads and full body mounts-i did much of the taxidermy, even the floor we walk on- i laid it down. there is satisfaction through doing one's own work. but i must concede that some of my fossils hold exalted positions, even though not found by self or family. some were gifts or trades from cherished friends, both in the states and europe. i like having these reminders of good friends. some have an even deeper meaning...if you've ever inherited a find from a dear, departed friend, you know what it means to maintain a connection through owning something they found and valued. on a lighter note, sometimes it is just fun to buy a crab or ammonite from half way around the world as a placeholder until i make that trip. or pick up something of an age or mode of preservation you won't encounter locally. i've put in lots of hours looking for quality proboscidean teeth, but found few. so when i met an artifact collector who didn't value his elephant finds, we struck a deal. it can be humbling to have to buy what you can't seem to find on your own, but for now,that part of my collection finally looks commensurate with personal effort expended. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediospirifer Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Very nice tooth! I have some vertebrate material, all purchased or traded for except the conodont microfossils. I live in a paleozoic bedrock area, so finding verts is only possible on vacations. I prefer to find my own, but there are plenty of things I purchase just because I see them for sale and think they're cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Dan, My Uncle Larry found a whale vertebra in the Panoche Hills, California back in the 40's or 50's (maybe earlier). I think he was hunting wild pigs with my grandfather. He showed it to me when I was a kid in the 70's. He passed away in 1995 and my aunt gave it to me later that year. He had told her he wanted me to have it. Jess but i must concede that some of my fossils hold exalted positions, even though not found by self or family. some were gifts or trades from cherished friends, both in the states and europe. i like having these reminders of good friends. some have an even deeper meaning...if you've ever inherited a find from a dear, departed friend, you know what it means to maintain a connection through owning something they found and valued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Dan, My Uncle Larry found a whale vertebra in the Panoche Hills, California back in the 40's or 50's (maybe earlier). I think he was hunting wild pigs with my grandfather. He showed it to me when I was a kid in the 70's. He passed away in 1995 and my aunt gave it to me later that year. He had told her he wanted me to have it. Jess And that's how heirlooms are started. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUAN EMMANUEL Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I sometimes prefer not to buy fossils, as sometimes I can end up with a material that doesn't come tagged with the right info that should go with it (what formation, age, locality etc.). If it isn't tagged, I have to do a lot of homework to find all the right info that should go with it, which is usually a big hassle. Also when I buy fossils there are instances in which the material I buy comes labeled with the wrong info. For example I recently went to the CNE and I found a fossil snail that came from the Bay of Quinte, Ontario. Being unfamiliar with the geology of that place I bought it anyway cuz it was cheap and it was tagged as being from the Silurian period and I thought I could use some diversity in my collection as all my fossils come from Ordovician Toronto. I did my homework and realized that there are no Silurian rocks in the Bay of Quinte and I eventually found out that the snail fossil came from the Verulam formation and it isn't a turritella as the tag said so as there are practically no turritellas back then in the paleozoic. Imagine how many other customers also got misinformed about their fossil they bought from that shop... Then there's that Ordovician brachiopod from Tennessee I bought along with the snail fossil at the CNE. The fossil is a big question mark, as I bought it labelled "brachiopoda tennesseenensis". What kind of a name is that suppose to be??? That's a very nice fossil t-rex tooth too btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrian Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Great tooth! It's at the top of my find or buy list when I have the funds. But, living in California, I'm not aware of any place to hunt them. Lots of Miocene shark teeth to be found though! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- John I had a friend once, but the wheels fell off. Sad, very sad. - Nightwing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carcharodontosaurus Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Quite a nice tooth. Congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 nice little tooth. I also am not much of a fossil buyer. I rarely even trade. My passion is the finding and prepping. And I am lucky enough to live where we can actually go find T rex teeth. (I do have a few). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpevahouse Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I began collecting fossils in Tennessee during grade school, late 1950s. The ability to buy fossils through the internet has opened up the world for collectors. Before the internet was available the only option was collecting fossils within driving range. During the early 1960s I obtained some fossils by trading with an out of state collector but the options available today are beyond comparison. The internet makes fossils from all over the world easily available and relatively inexpensive. My collection is diverse in ways I could have not imaged during the 1960s. From a recreational point of view traveling and collecting on site can be entertaining and exciting but in the end when the fossil ends up on the shelf it is a lot more important to own it than how it was obtained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I don't like buying fossils either, however, as you said, sometimes certain fossils are necessary for the completion of one's collection. I believe that research, effort, dedication, and motivation are all part of whatever fossil you find. Fossils would be just another plain part of the landscape if it were not for the fossil hunters' joy and desire in finding them. : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukll Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 The options for collecting here in the UK are pretty limited, it's all Shark Teeth, Ammonites, Belemnites, Shells and a handful of Marine Reptiles and Dinsoaurs in a couple of locations, I go collecting but I also purchase a lot of fossils otherwise I'm going to have a pretty limited collection. Mammoth fossils are very common here but the majority of which come from the bottom of the North Sea so even something so common is nearly impossible to collect yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koss1959 Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 Well, I live in Lyme Regis so I'm pretty spoilt. There are still lots of fossils you can only get by buying them though. Etsy shop for Dinosaur Art: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/IzzyBeeCreates?ref=seller-platform-mcnav Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I am in the same boat as most - nice to be able to say you collected it, but if you have an interest in certain things that can't be found in your area and no money to go traveling to it (and even then you may not find what you're looking for in the time you have there), you can often buy it. If I did not buy, my collection would be pretty much restricted to the local Upper Cretaceous. I like having a wide range of stuff from the Precambrian to (nearly) recent. I also like being able to 'rescue' pre-collected fossils from an uncertain demise. I have mentioned before that I bought a whole whack of fossils from a now-late collector here on the Island, stuff which might otherwise have gone to a particular dealer who I have known to not be too careful in recording info for his fossils such as location of origin. I think I have been more careful and diligent than he would have been in piecing together the info for much of it (where the original owner has not been so careful either). It is also rewarding to find for sale something that the seller and other buyers might not recognize the significance of, but you do and you get a deal on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.