New here..looking at Dino eggs, but don't know if they are real

[manchimp]

Hi there. I am very new to this, but have always been fascinated by fossils. I have bought a few from a local dealer that I love, but while out looking at a collection of movie posters for my business, I ran across someone who also collected, rocks, minerals and fossils. The collector had passed away and his wife is selling some items. I would love to have dinosaur eggs. My grandson and I go to the museum all of the time and look at the fossils, and he loves the eggs, so if these are real, I would love to buy them for us. Can anyone help me with these? Thanks in advance!

Michael

[JohnBrewer]

@HamptonsDoc

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

Hello Michael. Welcome to TFF, and receive hugs, here from Argentina!

 

The first egg is certainly real! It is an unprepared egg, possibly spherolytic, still covered in calcite, nestled in a matrix of red sandstone typical of China. Due to its morphological constitution, the most likely site of extraction is the Xixia Basin, Henan Province, China. And if this locality of origin is correct, it is of the Cretaceous Period Lower, between 84 to 71 million years. But it is important to point out that in China there are other localities of egg extraction from Hadrosaurids. I have no doubt that any collector would very much like this egg in their collection.

 

 

 

Already the two eggs of the second photo, definitely are fake, being both the eggs mounted in a false matrix. Perhaps the shells of these eggs are true, but the fact is that everything was mounted by a biped primate of the genus Homo, probably of Asian origin.

[manchimp]

43 minutes ago, Seguidora-de-Isis said:

Already the two eggs of the second photo, definitely are fake, being both the eggs mounted in a false matrix.

Thank you for the information. How can you tell..it sure looked like real rock/dirt and felt like it was something that came out of the earth...if that makes sense. It just didn't feel manufactured.

 

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

43 minutes ago, manchimp said:

Thank you for the information. How can you tell..it sure looked like real rock/dirt and felt like it was something that came out of the earth...if that makes sense. It just didn't feel manufactured.

 

 

I'm sorry, but in my opinion the two eggs of the second photo, are definitely manufactured, that is, they are fake. Although other TFF members may have a different opinion from me...

 

These two supposed eggs have a surface texture often seen with fakes, although that unfortunately the picture is not good enough to show the surface. However, my assessment is based on the image as a whole, in addition to the fact that in several different locations where egg shell ornamentation does not continue through cracks, and the apparent absence of taphonomic deformation, which is common in actual eggs, although with certain skill, can also be easily reproduced by man.

 

As an example, here is a genuine unprepared egg that is currently deposited in my private collection:

 

 

And now the same egg that was later prepared by me:

 

 

And now, some examples of prepared eggs, but which are completely false:

 

 

 

And now, can you see the great resemblance to the two eggs you showed in the second picture?

[Haravex]

Relatively new to the world of fossil eggs, and thankfully I know who I can trust when purchasing them. I would say the first one looks to be un-prepped and good one to go for possibly the second double looks dubious to me again would need to look at it in person under a loupe and black-light.

 

Thanks Matt

[Haravex]

I also find inverting the photograph helps show any area of dubiousness.

[HamptonsDoc]

Welcome to the forum!

 

I'd personally stay away from all of these.  The first egg I'm not too sure about and it looks suspicious to me.  This could just because of its poor prep job but I can't commit on its authenticity based off that picture alone.  The second eggs at first glance looked ok to me but then when I zoomed in they started to look very suspicious with multiple areas of cement/restoration on them.  I wish I felt better about these to recommend them to you but I'm not convinced about the authenticity of any of them.  Given the story you told about them I doubt the wife of the former owner knows about their dubious nature and her husband may not have even known himself.  Dino eggs are one of the most commonly faked fossils around so please be sure to post pictures of whatever you are planning on purchasing here first and you will hear many opinions about them.  As a disclaimer- opinions of these when seen in person may differ and be more accurate than when viewing a single image.

[manchimp]

Thank you all! I am going back to her house tomorrow and will try to take some better photos and post.

[snolly50]

3 hours ago, manchimp said:

it sure looked like real rock/dirt and felt like it was something that came out of the earth

You are of course correct. It is most certainly natural dirt/rock. Any alteration or enhancement may be done with natural materials. Authentic eggshell fragments are sometimes used to cover a constructed egg shape or to fill in areas of shell loss on a genuine egg. That is why you see posters referring to the abutment of the visible shell fragments. Natural eggs have natural spacing/alignment that's tough to duplicate jig-saw style. To my eye the pair of eggs display unnatural alignment of shell pieces. There is also an odd looking "patch" on the left egg which may represent a filled area. None of this means that they are not real eggs at least in part, but it suggests modification. Also absolute purely manufactured eggs do exist, so from photos alone, that cannot be absolutely ruled out.

 

The first egg looks more promising to my eye. However, the shell detail is obscured with a mineral deposit, making it a bit of a mystery. It requires additional prep work to look its best. 

 

Here are some more things which might be helpful. How long has the previous owner had them? The longer the better. It seems that fake eggs are becoming more and more common. Is it know where the owner got them? Is there paperwork, revealing a dealer? Look carefully at the matrix and see if you can spot pieces of shell buried there away from the main body of the egg. Take a loupe or magnifying glass and look at the surface. Do you see areas of material that seem out of place? Price, how much is being asked? You don't need to tell us, just compare the asking with what you can find on line (bear in mind many of those on the auction site are outright fakes). If the asking price is a bargain, then you have less risk. 

 

Most of all have fun. If you are able to get more photos, that may help those here provide the best possible opinion. However in hand is the most reliable mode of assessment.

 

Have a look a HamptonsDoc's penned topic, "Examples of commonly faked dino eggs" that is at the beginning of this Forum category.

 

 

 

 

 

[manchimp]

Well I went back today and took some more pictures. There was also another that she said was an egg, plus some more fossils that I took photos of.  Do these pictures help with any more determination? I will put up a couple of sets of photos.

[manchimp]

Here is the other egg

[manchimp]

It appears I have used all of my picture space. Sorry, didn't know I could only use that amount total. I would have made them smaller. I have many more of the other egg, plus some of the other fossils including some pretty cool teeth.

Edited December 10, 2018 by manchimp

[Max-fossils]

1 hour ago, manchimp said:

It appears I have used all of my picture space. Sorry, didn't know I could only use that amount total. I would have made them smaller. I have many more of the other egg, plus some of the other fossils including some pretty cool teeth.

if you refresh the page, you should be able to upload more photos  

[manchimp]

2 minutes ago, Max-fossils said:

if you refresh the page, you should be able to upload more photos  

Tried that. I'll try again

[Max-fossils]

Just now, manchimp said:

Tried that. I'll try again

Then make sure your pictures are not too big. Per post/reply, you have a maximum of 3.95 MB worth of files. If you try to upload too many pictures at once, it won't work. Also, if a picture exceeds the limit (which can happen), just crop it a bit so that it takes up less space

[manchimp]

[manchimp]

Other fossils

[HamptonsDoc]

Much better pictures and these tell an entirely different story than the original group of pictures!  All four of these eggs do look authentic to me and I think you could buy them with confidence.

 

The single hadrosaur egg is covered in calcite which is very common in the fossilization process.  A little prep by someone who knows what they're doing could reveal some beautiful shell underneath it!

 

The pair of hadrosaur eggs looks good too.  Lots of mineralization and matrix left on the shell which is what in the original pictures made me think there was poor resto or cement.  I now think they look natural.

 

The fourth egg you just posted is commonly referred to as a therizinosaur egg by many collectors/dealers.  The quality is poor but it also looks authentic to me.

 

All of these eggs are from China and are cretaceous in age.  As a side, eggs typically aren't labelled by species of dinosaur but rather an ootaxon which I am terrible with so I'll let others (@Seguidora-de-Isis) properly label them for you!

 

I think my change in opinion on these is what we frequently say and see on the forum- it is difficult to judge fossils based off of pictures alone as subtle changes in lighting, angles and quality of photos can tell an entirely different story.

[Pemphix]

4 hours ago, manchimp said:

Other fossils

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[manchimp]

1 minute ago, Pemphix said:

 

 

Sorry, I don't know what's funny, but thanks for the input!

 

[Pemphix]

Sorry for this, but this is one of the obvious and badest Fakes of Fossils i saw since a long time (don't buy it) !

The whole "amphibium" has been - very bad - carved and painted !

Originally, there was a fossil fish (you can even see the scales and the fins left).

From that it was tried to carve out the amphib: carved/painted out the tail (part of it is spine of the fish), the legs, the arms and the head.

The "ribs" are those of the fish..

 

[manchimp]

1 hour ago, HamptonsDoc said:

Much better pictures and these tell an entirely different story than the original group of pictures!  All four of these eggs do look authentic to me and I think you could buy them with confidence.

 

The single hadrosaur egg is covered in calcite which is very common in the fossilization process.  A little prep by someone who knows what they're doing could reveal some beautiful shell underneath it!

 

The pair of hadrosaur eggs looks good too.  Lots of mineralization and matrix left on the shell which is what in the original pictures made me think there was poor resto or cement.  I now think they look natural.

 

The fourth egg you just posted is commonly referred to as a therizinosaur egg by many collectors/dealers.  The quality is poor but it also looks authentic to me.

 

All of these eggs are from China and are cretaceous in age.  As a side, eggs typically aren't labelled by species of dinosaur but rather an ootaxon which I am terrible with so I'll let others (@Seguidora-de-Isis) properly label them for you!

 

I think my change in opinion on these is what we frequently say and see on the forum- it is difficult to judge fossils based off of pictures alone as subtle changes in lighting, angles and quality of photos can tell an entirely different story.

Thank you so much. Glad these pictures helped. Now I just need to figure out what to pay her. And you said that they needed to be prepared for presentation. How does that work, and who would I take them to for such a thing? I would just be happy to have them!

[manchimp]

19 minutes ago, Pemphix said:

Sorry for this, but this is one of the obvious and badest Fakes of Fossils i saw since a long time (don't buy it) !

The whole "amphibium" has been - very bad - carved and painted !

Originally, there was a fossil fish (you can even see the scales and the fins left).

From that it was tried to carve out the amphib: carved/painted out the tail (part of it is spine of the fish), the legs, the arms and the head.

The "ribs" are those of the fish..

 

I can see that now. Thank you. I am obviously brand new to this and it helps to know what to look for.

[Pemphix]

Don't worry  - the laughs were for the "fossil", not about you or your knowledge !