NEW MEMBERS PLEASE READ - Guidelines For Posting In This Forum: Please Read!

[Auspex]

The collective experience of The Fossil Forum's membership is vast, and we take the opportunity here to help those with less experience avoid some of the pitfalls faced when purchasing fossils (particularly on-line purchases). We cannot appraise or otherwise assess the $ value of a specimen, but maybe we can help keep those seeking guidance from making an uninformed mistake. We solicit for tips on distinguishing the genuine from the non, and encourage inquiry about specific specimens when certainty is elusive.

For this to work as intended, we set forth the following special guidelines for posting in the Is it Real? How To Recognize Fossil Fabrications forum:

 

>Please present and discuss examples in a way that is helpful to others seeking such guidance.

 

>Please do not post prices or reference them in any way.

 

>Images which illustrate possible fabrications, composites, enhancements, and mis-identifications should be attached directly to your post; links (too often ephemeral) are not permitted.

 

>Do not post links to websites, nor identify a seller in any way. For our educational purposes, the sellers' identity is immaterial; this is all about the specimens. Do not copy or screenshot advertisement verbiage.

 

>Discussions about posted examples should focus on their features as compared to known-to-be-genuine specimens.

 

>Please do not make disparaging comments about any person, company, or group, or country, ... no matter how strongly you feel; this archive is for public education about fossils, and The Fossil Forum is in no position to make a case against charges of libel!

 

Thank you for your adherence to these guidelines; we recognize that the topic of "fake fossils" pushes all our buttons as fossil collectors, but facts, not emotions, will serve our educational mission best!

[aplomado]

Is this the place where we should inquire about possible purchases, to try and find out if they are genuine?

[JohnJ]

The collective experience of The Fossil Forum's membership is vast, and we take the opportunity here to help those with less experience avoid some of the pitfalls faced when purchasing fossils (particularly on-line purchases). We cannot appraise or otherwise assess the $ value of a specimen, but maybe we can help keep those seeking guidance from making an uninformed mistake. ....

Is this the place where we should inquire about possible purchases, to try and find out if they are genuine?

Yes—within the guidelines.

[Auspex]

The idea for this forum was a long time coming to fruition; the potential educational benefits could not be denied, but we had to grapple with just how to bring it off without the hot-button nature of the topic trampling our community standards (hence the fairly demanding and specific guidelines). The other departure from our comfort zone (necessitated by insisting on the anonymity of sellers, to forestall libelous accusations) was to not only allow, but require that images be attached (instead of linked). As we are now registered for Educational Fair Use protection, the first recourse of copyright holders is to request that an unattributed image be removed (instead of heading straight to court). We also won't accumulate an archive full of dead links to expired images (most Internet sales listings are ephemeral, and this undertaking relies on imagery).

If the the information presented herein is demonstrably educational, it will be of value to many beginning or casual fossil collectors, and will hopefully promote avocational paleontology. It's up to all of us.

[mrcircumspect]

Thanks for your thoughts!  It's good to know the boundaries...Walking within them makes the experience more pleasant for all.