Megalodon1 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 This is the first time I have come across this, acid bleaching teeth. This seller has something really interesting going with the result of acid bleaching. It looks like he's taking some of the darker grey or black Megs and making them turn into lighter color with acid bleach. http://cgi.ebay.com/4-29-N-Atlantic-Megalo...%3A1%7C294%3A50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoRon Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I accidently did that to some teeth from a creek in N.C. that were covered in algae. I used straight bleach and it removed the algae and also discolored the teeth. I never repeated the experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 "something really interesting" is to me something really tragic. i'm not talking about the particular referenced auction, which at least seems honestly described, but... as far as i'm concerned, you can take something worth a hundred bucks and put two hundred bucks worth of effort into it and make it worth fifty bucks (or unsellable). purist collectors everywhere of almost everything demand originality. alteration offends their eyes. when you buff snarge, all you end up with is snarge all over everything and a buffed piece of snarge. if the hydration crack is in the root, leave it alone. i'll buy the tooth with the crack there, but i won't buy the tooth with the crack filled. again, there are unquantifiable factors regarding doing business with others that are nonetheless real and affect the business. say a guy's selling polished snarge. i walk in, with "newbie" tattooed on my forehead. i buy a piece of his polished snarge for twice retail. he warmly shakes my hand and congratulates me on my "investment". I leave happy. he never sees me again and concludes that i wasn't a true collector or have left town. what he doesn't realize is that i somehow became more savvy and figured out that the "deal" was the worst deal possible, and vowed to never darken his doorstep again, and am telling everyone i meet what a ripoff artist he is, even as i'm giving honest dealers tons of business. i'm using the piece of polished snarge he sold me as a doorstop to remind myself to be more careful. but i don't really like going in and out of that door because it reminds me that i got taken - that i was a fool. oh, wait, that part of the story is fiction, because i'm always a fool! <snoopy dancing like crazy to make up for being a grouchy party pooper nitpicker butthead sometimes> happy Sunday, ya'll! major league baseball starts tonight! looky here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 ...acid bleaching teeth... There's probably a market for them, but to me the result is an unnatural abomination. I guess I'm old-fashioned, but I draw a line between "prepped" and "altered". "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...
Frank Menser Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Just gave that fellow some friendly advice on his tooth. It is probably the worst thing I have seen done to a specimen (even worse than planting little gold or pewter figurines on them) ever. Tracer said it best above. I'd rather have a battered, broken orrigional condition tooth than that abomination. ~Frank I can't beeave four people actually bid on that thing... Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdog Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Like Tracer said, at least the guy honestly described what he had done to the tooth, but it isn't so pleasing to my eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Like Tracer said, at least the guy honestly described what he had done to the tooth, but it isn't so pleasing to my eye. The description is not indelibly marked on the tooth; at some point these "specimens" will make it into the secondary market and the unaware won't know the difference. I hope the practice doesn't catch on. "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...
fossilselachian Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 This is the first time I have come across this, acid bleaching teeth. This seller has something really interesting going with the result of acid bleaching. It looks like he's taking some of the darker grey or black Megs and making them turn into lighter color with acid bleach.http://cgi.ebay.com/4-29-N-Atlantic-Megalo...%3A1%7C294%3A50 Plain old "butt ugly" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Those photos made me cry inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megateeth Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 as far as i'm concerned, you can take something worth a hundred bucks and put two hundred bucks worth of effort into it and make it worth fifty bucks (or unsellable).purist collectors everywhere of almost everything demand originality. alteration offends their eyes. when you buff snarge, all you end up with is snarge all over everything and a buffed piece of snarge. if the hydration crack is in the root, leave it alone. i'll buy the tooth with the crack there, but i won't buy the tooth with the crack filled. again, there are unquantifiable factors regarding doing business with others that are nonetheless real and affect the business. say a guy's selling polished snarge. i walk in, with "newbie" tattooed on my forehead. i buy a piece of his polished snarge for twice retail. he warmly shakes my hand and congratulates me on my "investment". I leave happy. >> happy Sunday, ya'll! major league baseball starts tonight! looky here I completely understand why you would only want natural teeth and I think every serious collector would agree. I also do not care for the look of the bleached Meg, but like you said the seller was accurate in his description. The thing is there are a bunch of people that are not collectors who want something for their mantle or child. They are not interested in a meg with peeled enamel. They ask for something BIG, PRETTY and CHEAP. If you think of it there is nothing wrong with that. If I want to hang something on my living room wall I do not buy a $1000 painting. I buy a $100 print or $30 poster and have it framed. A serious art collector would cringe but I am not looking for an investment I just want something that matches the walls and does not clash with the sofa. For years I would not sell any kind of polished tooth, but as the number of BPaC requests started increasing, I started selling polished teeth. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but it is what many people want. They will not pay for a nice 5" natural tooth but do not want a small " ugly" tooth. Since most will never become a serious collector they will be happy. The ones that do become serious will decide that it does not fit with their collections and resell it for what they paid to someone else that wants something big, pretty and cheap. Edit to add GO PIRATES!!!! (They will be out of it by May ) Megateeth Fossils - Megalodon Teeth, Other Shark Teeth and Info about Megalodon shark tooth collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jax Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 THey look like the teeth I find here that have been exposed too long and are white, the enamle is eaten away. I dont like that look personaly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I completely understand why you would only want natural teeth and I think every serious collector would agree. I also do not care for the look of the bleached Meg, but like you said the seller was accurate in his description. The thing is there are a bunch of people that are not collectors who want something for their mantle or child. They are not interested in a meg with peeled enamel. They ask for something BIG, PRETTY and CHEAP. If you think of it there is nothing wrong with that. If I want to hang something on my living room wall I do not buy a $1000 painting. I buy a $100 print or $30 poster and have it framed. A serious art collector would cringe but I am not looking for an investment I just want something that matches the walls and does not clash with the sofa. For years I would not sell any kind of polished tooth, but as the number of BPaC requests started increasing, I started selling polished teeth. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but it is what many people want. They will not pay for a nice 5" natural tooth but do not want a small " ugly" tooth. Since most will never become a serious collector they will be happy. The ones that do become serious will decide that it does not fit with their collections and resell it for what they paid to someone else that wants something big, pretty and cheap. Edit to add GO PIRATES!!!! (They will be out of it by May ) The problem is that these big Megs are still uncommon enough to demand big prices and this is not helped by perminently ruining good specimens so the ignorant can have a Gee gaw..... Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 The problem is that these big Megs are still uncommon enough to demand big prices and this is not helped by perminently ruining good specimens so the ignorant can have a Gee gaw..... I understand what you are saying, and I agree that from a serious collector's perspective that this sort of artificial decorative enhancement is a shame. What just popped into my head though is echoes of other threads, where the avocational collectors are railing about the (perceived) attitude of professional paleontologists with regards to the right of amateurs to collect fossils. "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...
megateeth Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 The problem is that these big Megs are still uncommon enough to demand big prices and this is not helped by perminently ruining good specimens so the ignorant can have a Gee gaw..... It would be foolish to spend an hour to polish a nice speciman. Most people polish, alter whatever you want to call it broken pieces that they would not get anything for. Most serious collectors would not purchase a 5" tooth with 1/4 of the tooth missing at the tip. The parent wanting an attractive large tooth for their child would not want it either. If either of them do want a tooth like this the Internet is full of them so they are out there and available. So one tooth gets altered and the serious collector still would not touch it. The parent buys it because it is big, attractive and not too expensive in the hopes that it will inspire their kid to put down his gameboy and open a book. Megateeth Fossils - Megalodon Teeth, Other Shark Teeth and Info about Megalodon shark tooth collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilselachian Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Edit to add GO PIRATES!!!! (They will be out of it by May ) Do you think they will last that long? Although I've pretty much given up on baseball, I was a huge PP fan growing up in that area years ago. I think they set a record last year for the most consecutive losing seasons - something like a 15 year period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megateeth Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Edit to add GO PIRATES!!!! (They will be out of it by May )Do you think they will last that long? Although I've pretty much given up on baseball, I was a huge PP fan growing up in that area years ago. I think they set a record last year for the most consecutive losing seasons - something like a 15 year period. I was trying to be optimistic. Megateeth Fossils - Megalodon Teeth, Other Shark Teeth and Info about Megalodon shark tooth collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Those photos made me cry inside. Me, too. I don't like it. He should have just sent it to me before bleaching. I would have paid the postage. I'm guessing (hoping) he did it accidentally and just tried to sell it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 quote name='Auspex' date='Apr 6 2009, 09:14 AM' post='64962'] I understand what you are saying, and I agree that from a serious collector's perspective that this sort of artificial decorative enhancement is a shame. What just popped into my head though is echoes of other threads, where the avocational collectors are railing about the (perceived) attitude of professional paleontologists with regards to the right of amateurs to collect fossils. Frankly, when I see alterations like this - and radiating crystals to alter their color, or adding little figurines...I barf and then I begin to wonder if those scientist have a point about Amateurs and (sometimes) rare specimens. It's one thing to collect and preserve, it is another to collect and disfigure to make a buck. I have allways felt my collection had some scientific merit that would be realised when I die (no one in my family has the appreciation so the best material will end up being donated to a museum). As I have said elsewhere there are items that would have been lost forever, if I hadn't dug them up. Mega, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so they say. With all due respect, I have yet to see anybody here that thinks it's pretty. I'll settle for something more like this... [ Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megateeth Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so they say. With all due respect, I have yet to see anybody here that thinks it's pretty. I'll settle for something more like this... [ I agree with you on the bleached teeth. I am not sure what they were trying to achieve. I was talking about polishing and restorations in general. I also agree the one that you just showed me would be much better untouched. I would love to find teeth with those colors. Megateeth Fossils - Megalodon Teeth, Other Shark Teeth and Info about Megalodon shark tooth collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Whoa I'll make note not to do that! I've heard some major horror stories... but I didn't think it was that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooky1 Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I don't understand why someone would do that to a nice meg. Maybe they were just trying to clean it up and didn't realize what it would do to the tooth. It's a sad sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoRon Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I think he's doing it to make them stand out from the many thousands of dull colored beat up slugs that have come from the offshore sites over the past couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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