7 inch Megalodon Tooth Restored- Is Unrestored Tooth really 7 inches?

[pcptrade]

I know that Megalodon tooth more than 7 inch are scarce and command high premium. There is a seller who has a 7 inch Megalodon tooth. He sent me pictures of the same tooth before and after Restoration. I am attaching the photos of the same tooth before and after restoration (1-3 are UnRestored and 4 to 6 are Restored)

 

The dimensions of the tooth after restoration: Long side 7 3/16'' (7.18 inches), short side 6 13/16" (6. 81 inches) and almost 5'' wide.

 

I guess my question is 1. Could the tooth have been slightly less than 7 inches before restoration? 2. Does tooth restoration add any length to the tooth (Do people do that to tooth that are slightly less than 6 and 7 inches to bring it to 6 plus and 7 plus inches?)

 

My main concern is what if the tooth was less than 7 inches before restoration.

[Troodon]

Nice resto but with the root lobes restored you have no idea what real size of the tooth could be, how can you.  The restorer has no magic guide telling him what the tooth looked like in real life.  He's using his judgement in deciding how big to make it.   Could it be less of course it could. 

[pcptrade]

1 minute ago, Troodon said:

Nice resto but with the root lobes restored you have no idea what real size of the tooth could be, how can you.  The restorer has no magic guide telling him what the tooth looked like in real life.  He's using his judgement in deciding how big to make it.   Could it be less of course it could. 

That is exactly my thought as well. Just wanted to make sure that my thinking was not crazy. Thank you for your opinion.

[Miocene_Mason]

It’s not super unreasonable, but it does look like it has a bit more curve in the root than it probably would have. I’d bet it would be at least slightly smaller than it’s been restored to.

[pcptrade]

10 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

It’s not super unreasonable, but it does look like it has a bit more curve in the root than it probably would have. I’d bet it would be at least slightly smaller than it’s been restored to.

Something that should be taken into account before buying a so call restored 7 plus inch Megalodon tooth for a high premium. 

[Troodon]

The difference between 7  3/16" and less than 7" is not much on that restored lobe. It looks a bit exaggerated to me

 

[pcptrade]

3 minutes ago, Troodon said:

The difference between 7  3/16" and less than 7" is not much on that restored lobe.

The difference is 0.37 inches or 0.925 cm (slightly less than 1 centimeter)

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

In my opinion, many Megalodon Tooths 100% genuine that exist in the hands of many collectors actually present a rather massive lobe such as this:

 

 

But as they said, we will never know the exact appearance of this tooth at the time it was in the mouth of the shark ... So we can not judge that there was an exaggeration in the restoration, and also we can not judge that it was much bigger ... But of Overall, I believe there was no exaggeration here, and if there was any, it's barely noticeable!

 

I have one in my private collection that came from North Carolina - United States:

 

 

Of course it is infinitely smaller. Particularly I would not like to restore it, I prefer it much more this way, that is, natural and in the exact manner in which it was discovered, but this is a personal taste only, which may vary from collector to collector.

[bcfossilcollector]

The restoration job appears to be excellent but agree with the others. Any significant restoration on a fossil can sometimes equate to what the person feels the fossil/tooth should look like or restoration via interpretation. The fossil then really becomes, in a sense, an art object more than a pure fossil. At least that how I feel. Still it’s a beast of a tooth. 

[Bone guy]

This is a very nice tooth and the restoration job is phenomenal, don't get me wrong. But personally I would avoid this tooth. Simply because the true measurement of the tooth is unknown. I would rather wait a while until a 7 inch meg tooth without restoration came around. But that's just me mainly because I like to be able to accurately measure my meg teeth.

 

In the end it's totally up to you. If you really love it, and you feel your money would be well spent. Go for it. 

[Miocene_Mason]

2 minutes ago, Bone guy said:

I would rather wait a while until a 7 inch meg tooth without restoration came around.

You’ll be waiting for a loooooong time. Those guys are rarer than hens teeth, and more valuable.

[Bone guy]

Just now, WhodamanHD said:

3 minutes ago, Bone guy said:

 

You’ll be waiting for a loooooong time. Those guys are rarer than hens teeth, and more valuable.

You have a point. These teeth come around twice in a lifetime. But what I'm really trying to say is I would rather have a 6 inch meg that is definatly 6 inches over a 7 inch meg that may be 7 inches. 

[pcptrade]

10 minutes ago, Bone guy said:

This is a very nice tooth and the restoration job is phenomenal, don't get me wrong. But personally I would avoid this tooth. Simply because the true measurement of the tooth is unknown. I would rather wait a while until a 7 inch meg tooth without restoration came around. But that's just me mainly because I like to be able to accurately measure my meg teeth.

 

In the end it's totally up to you. If you really love it, and you feel your money would be well spent. Go for it. 

I don't how much to spend since I am new to fossil collecting. I would appreciate If anyone can private message and let me know what the fair estimate of this tooth would be.

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

1 hour ago, pcptrade said:

I don't how much to spend since I am new to fossil collecting. I would appreciate If anyone can private message and let me know what the fair estimate of this tooth would be.

 

It's not a bad feeling to help you, but... At least in my opinion, it would be a coward to try to stipulate any kind of price, because the price would always be wrong! A fossil is always worth everything you're willing to pay.

[darktheumbreon]

I agree with what the others have said so far, the restoration looks great but its almost obvious how exaggerated the restoration has been done to lengthen the tooth. This is common practice with meg teeth. Many people believe that you should usually avoid restored teeth unless you can trust the seller's words, but if the thought of a restored tooth is okay with you then its perfectly fine if you are willing to pay out the money. I have to comment on those backgrounds though, it really makes my eyes hurt.

[Ludwigia]

It's up to you in the end. If you're willing to pay that much for it, then go for it. If not, then don't.

[RJB]

It really doesn't matter to me, but the restore job is really really good!

 

RB

[pcptrade]

Thank you all for your insights. I ended up purchasing it. This one has visible serrations. Not sure if I will come across another one like this (7 inch with visible serrations) in the future. 

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

12 hours ago, pcptrade said:

Thank you all for your insights. I ended up purchasing it. This one has visible serrations. Not sure if I will come across another one like this (7 inch with visible serrations) in the future. 

 

In the original restoration photo, I could not see the serrations, but of course I may be wrong!

 

[pcptrade]

55 minutes ago, Seguidora-de-Isis said:

 

In the original restoration photo, I could not see the serrations, but of course I may be wrong!

 

I see what you are saying. I thought the same too but the unrestored tooth is the same as restored tooth (comparing both photos). If you compare the bourlette, the root and lines on enamel, you can clearly see it is the same tooth (Restored and Unrestored). Is it that easy to fake serrations during restoration? Perhaps the materials used for restoration at the corners of the blade obscured the serrations and hence are not visible clearly when pictures were taken while restoration process was underway? Also the pictures of Unrestored tooth was taken in a dark background and it could have attributed to serrations being not clearly visible. I am not sure...

[TyBoy]

13 hours ago, pcptrade said:

Not sure if I will come across another one like this (7 inch with visible serrations) in the future. 

You keep referring to this tooth as 7 inches yet it's restored to that size and yet there is no hard evidence that it reached that size.  It's just like COA's will make the documentation read what ever you like.  That's the reality however believe what you like its your tooth.

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

19 minutes ago, pcptrade said:

I see what you are saying. I thought the same too but the unrestored tooth is the same as restored tooth (comparing both photos). If you compare the bourlette, the root and lines on enamel, you can clearly see it is the same tooth (Restored and Unrestored). Is it that easy to fake serrations during restoration? Perhaps the materials used for restoration at the corners of the blade obscured the serrations and hence are not visible clearly when pictures were taken while restoration process was underway? Also the pictures of Unrestored tooth was taken in a dark background and it could have attributed to serrations being not clearly visible. I am not sure...

 

I questioned it due to the fact that it is possible to fabricate the serrations without any effort, as long as you have the necessary materials in your hands. As I told you, I may be mistaken, but I did not see serrations, even under a clear background:

 

 

And after restored, under the same clear background, mysteriously the serrations appears:

 

 

After restoration, see that both sides are perfect! It's a job worthy of applause! It's a perfect restoration! Man is a good professional!

 

 

In fact he is one of the best professionals I have ever seen! So what would prevent him, with the experience of profession and suitable materials, to make the serrations? Sorry, but I'm not sure.

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

16 minutes ago, TyBoy said:

You keep referring to this tooth as 7 inches yet it's restored to that size and yet there is no hard evidence that it reached that size.  It's just like COA's will make the documentation read what ever you like.  That's the reality however believe what you like its your tooth.

 

This is just what I think! To believe or not in aliens is the option of each one. The important thing is to be happy in what you believe.

 

[pcptrade]

1 hour ago, Seguidora-de-Isis said:

 

I questioned it due to the fact that it is possible to fabricate the serrations without any effort, as long as you have the necessary materials in your hands. As I told you, I may be mistaken, but I did not see serrations, even under a clear background:

And after restored, under the same clear background, mysteriously the serrations appears:

 

 

After restoration, see that both sides are perfect! It's a job worthy of applause! It's a perfect restoration! Man is a good professional!

 

 

In fact he is one of the best professionals I have ever seen! So what would prevent him, with the experience of profession and suitable materials, to make the serrations? Sorry, but I'm not sure.

Excellent points! However, The seller is on ebay. He sells alot of Megalodon teeth (with and without serrations). I bought two Restored 6 plus inch teeth from him recently on ebay auction. One of them with serrations and one of them without serration. He has listed and sold a lot of them over the past years with positive reviews. If he could fake serrations, why would he be selling 6 plus inch teeth without serrations especially if he can make more money by faking serrations. Here are some 6 plus inch tooth by the same seller, only one with serrations and three without serrations-

[Kane]

Well, it's not always easy to figure out why people do anything. It might not hurt to ask the seller if the serrations are original or added on as part of the restoration. The question would be more than justified given the images @Seguidora-de-Isis has zoomed in on.