I need help to tell if it is real or not

[indominus rex]

Today I want to talk about a problem that most people face when wanting to get a fossil at a lower price because of budget problem or what not, ... is it fake?, This is especially a problem on Auction Sites. 

 

When I was younger I thought if it said it was real it is real. I now know a bit more about fossils and how they can be faked to even fool scientists, so I guess you either have to scrape a bit of rock and try to expose a bit more of a fossil or get it X-rayed. I am no expert on fossil determination but I want you guys to give me some advice because I can usually only tell if the fossil is fake if it is obvious example (it has obviously different bones combined, carved and painted badly).

 

Most fake fossils that were claimed to be real are from China and Morocco, but they normally do this because they need to make a living out of it so I am not saying they are terrible people. I personally only collect fossils that are real, and I am not interested in replicas. I have bought a fossil that took me a year to realize it was a fake.

So I would like the experts to please leave some tips on how to tell a real fossil from a fake one please.

 

best regards, indominus rex

[gigantoraptor]

Depends on what you are looking for. For example: Tyrannosaurus rex and Nanotyrannos can't be differentiated bij teeth only. Only if you have a giantic tooth, you can say it's Tyrannosaurus rex. This is not faking fossils, but some Nanotyrannos teeth are sold for way too much money because they are sold as T-rex. But if you are really low budget I wouldn't buy on Ebay. Maybe you can try fossil fairs? Then you can see the fossil in real before you buy it. I see you are from Strasbourg, some good fossil fairs (relativ) nearby are: Munchen (Germany), Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (France), and Paleotime in Leuven (Belgium).

 

Greetings

[Fossildude19]

If you search this forum, there are many posts that already do this.  

If you are more specific about what type of fossils you are interested in figuring out if they are fake,  you will get better, more directed answers.

The internet is becoming more aware of these issues, and there are a lot of guides posted on commercial websites about how to recognize fake/heavily restored/replica fossils. 

Regards, 

[aplomado]

If you want to know if something is real, I'd post a picture here and ask!

 

I usually just buy common stuff that no one has an incentive to fake.