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Phacops or FAKEops


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Alrighty folks, I know the trilobite "fake versus real" is almost a cliché around here, but I thought I would ask any how. I bought this several years ago online...and it was advertised as a "phacops trilobite from Morocco". (Oh, I can hear the groans). LOL. So after the fact, I did some research: It has the detailed eyes and nose, it has the supposed common fracture through the "trilobite" and the matrix, and as far I can tell, I don't see any casting "bubbles". Sooooo, a probability of real, fake...or inconclusive? If it's real...cool, if fake...oh well I learned my lesson.

 

Henry

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It looks ok. Something about this looks suspicious, almost like it's to perfect. I feel like it might of had some paint touch up, but I'm not 100% sure. 

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It is very common for Moroccan trilos to be "enhanced" with coloring to make them stand out better for display, I guess. I'm not a fan of such practices myself. The overall piece looks quite real.

 

 

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15 hours ago, caldigger said:

It is very common for Moroccan trilos to be "enhanced" with coloring to make them stand out better for display, I guess. I'm not a fan of such practices myself. The overall piece looks quite real.

Yes I think they use shoe polish. 

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Yes, a genuine Reedops and i'm pretty sure the colour's genuine too. 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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1 minute ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Yes, a genuine Reedops and i'm pretty sure the colour's genuine too. 

That is an amazing colour .

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9 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

That is an amazing colour .

Yes, they come out lovely and shiny and black. 

Here the colour looks a bit odd because of the lighting, I think. 

The old 'boot polish' trick is usually done to hide restoration or damage and scratches during prep but it doesn't seem to be the case here, you can still see plenty of dinks, scratches and cracks. 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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Really incredible difference to the matrix. I have a Trilobite from Morocco can’t remember the species will have to check my records but it quite black. I always thought it had polish on it but maybe not. Thanks @Tidgy's Dad

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3 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

Yes I think they use shoe polish. 

Thats why their shoes are all scuffed up, they used the polish for other things.

 

 

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3 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Thats why their shoes are all scuffed up, they used the polish for other things.

It is a possible reason for the reduction in number of the quite wonderful shoe shine men in the city here. 

They've all gone down south to black up fossils. 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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Looks like shoe polish to me. Not a bad thing necessarily. When you are getting an average Moroccan quick-prepped bug they usually look better with it than without it. If you want to know for sure, hit it with an air abrasive quickly. If there is shoe polish, it will come off. If there isn't anything on it, nothing will change. A lot of the time if you take off the black, you will find there was actually still matrix on the bug.

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