Dinosaur eggs

[Crazyhen]

Do you think this clutch of eggs from Ganzhou, China is genuine?

[Thecosmilia Trichitoma]

They look like composites IMO.

[Ludwigia]

They look real to me, but I'm no expert on the subject. Let's wait until someone like @-Andy- tunes in.

[Pemphix]

coloured/glued IMO. You can see the drops left on the eggs very well.

Shape and surface looks good, but in sum looks suspicious IMO - maybe composited as said before....

[snolly50]

I like what I see. Of course only in hand could a more assured judgement be made. If they were mine, I would settle (or inflame) any doubt with much needed additional prep. In that process any "glue" employed would be encountered. I would think it highly improbable that a quantity of shell could be attached without at least a little oozing to the surface; there to be discovered. In addition, some minor additional excavation would reveal "what lies beneath." That is, does the shell continue as expected into the matrix toward the hatching windows. The texture visible looks to be what I would expect, as does the matrix color. I don't see any shell shards scattered in the matrix, which to me is always a reassuring sight; but that is not a red light. As I suggested, I would be proud to own that piece to poke around on. That being said, the price would (for me) dictate the amount of uncertainty I could bear. Good luck, have fun. 

[RJB]

I was going to say these look a bit fishy but im sure it would fool most of the buying public.  These chinese egg fakers are getting really good at it.  Just saw another egg post where I would have sworn it was real!!!

 

RB

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

I could say a lot here, but our friend @snolly50 came first and he said everything I wanted to say! 

 

But even so my friend @Crazyhen, I tell you that if the price is good, in my opinion in this case, it is worth the risk. And when the nest arrives in your house, you can check the matrix. In my opinion there are excellent chances that it is real because the same minerals that were part of the fossilization process are also present in the eggs.

 

 

 

Especially this outlet that proves the real incrustration of this mineral:

 

[steelhead9]

Yup to Snolly. Maybe a bit of shell compositing. Sometimes the Chinese will wet the eggs to highlight them when taking photos. 

[connorp]

It looks like a lot of the matrix at the contact point between the eggs and the matrix is greyish. Especially noticeable in the second picture. Possibly the eggs have been placed in cement together?

[-Andy-]

Real, with possible restorations.

 

The eggshell texture flows throughout so that's a good sign. I see uneven color on some surfaces though which makes me suspect a few pieces of eggshells have been touched up. Still, the whole thing looks pretty good to me.,

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

1 hour ago, -Andy- said:

Real, with possible restorations.

 

The eggshell texture flows throughout so that's a good sign. I see uneven color on some surfaces though which makes me suspect a few pieces of eggshells have been touched up. Still, the whole thing looks pretty good to me.,

 

The irregular color is due to this strange green mineral that infests the overwhelming majority of the fossil eggs that are discovered in Ganzhou, China, ie this strange green mineral is a signature typical of its origin.

 

 

[aeon.rocks]

18 hours ago, RJB said:

I was going to say these look a bit fishy but im sure it would fool most of the buying public.  These chinese egg fakers are getting really good at it.  Just saw another egg post where I would have sworn it was real!!!

 

RB

What's funny is, that one was fake and people would say it's real-if colors were not off and this here looks good (real, possibly some resto) and people would say it's a fake, lol.

[paleo1]

These have quite a bit of repair on them especially the middle and outer one. The first egg is mostly real but does have some repair. It is the main value of this clutch. I would guess the back half of the middle one is all added. You can see the repairs on the egg adjacent to it. The white calcite is a clue about original placement. Grout used to cement repairs will not have these calcite spots. Importing these is no longer allowed as I am sure you know so that is a risk as well. Three main tells for repairs. Large gaps between the shell. Texture does not line up. Grout or ground up matrix used for fill, in this one very noticeable along the back half of the middle egg.

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

21 hours ago, aeon.rocks said:

What's funny is, that one was fake and people would say it's real-if colors were not off and this here looks good (real, possibly some resto) and people would say it's a fake, lol.

 

In addition to all the problems you pointed out, there are other problems with that egg from the other post. So even with the correct coloring that egg would not fool me. When the subject is fossil eggs, I do not publish what I think and what I see because over the years I have noticed that every flaws in the eggs that we all point here in the TFF, next year the eggs coming from Malaysia are without those flaws, some members here do not believe in this, and I am one of those who believes that in Malaysia they usually read very carefully everything we publish here, and this is very convenient for them and destructive for beginner collectors. The heart of the matter that I have to live with is how to try to educate the beginning collectors without being able to point out the failures in the eggs.

 

In China, the matrix may have completely different colors in the same outcrop, which will depend on the point of the outcrop where it is excavated, presence of minerals and other geological factors.. So the coloration here is completely irrelevant.

 

I would not worry if these "eggs" from Malasia were sold with the proper labels they deserve, that is, mere replicas, after all, many people have little money to invest in a collection of fossils, and often these "eggs" from Malaysia is the more nearest that a collector with little money manages to arrive of genuine eggs.

 

But my concern is when these "eggs" are sold with weight of gold and labeled as genuine by more inexperienced collectors.

 

[aeon.rocks]

Quote

In addition to all the problems you pointed out, there are other problems with that egg from the other post. So even with the correct coloring that egg would not fool me. 

 

Definitely. A fake like that placed in original matrix might fool many other collectors however. I don't believe manufacturers need to read any forum to improve their work, sure,  it's a way to see what people think, but i believe they have seen some real eggs and could base their work on observation mostly. The main limit is technique, material and tools availability.

 

I agree with your concern, besides these are all overvalued considering price in China and how common. Coloration is not completely irrelevant, but also very important are the details of that egg and texture of matrix. I'm always sceptic when I see offers from that Malaysian seller as well, but these are not Malaysian eggs and fakes not limited to Malaysia (I'm not familiar with real eggs outcrops in Malaysia anyway, would not be surprised though, dinosaur fossils have been discovered in some regions), but imho they import/export (there are some real B or C grade eggs in the mix sometimes), however difficult to say where these fakes are manufactured, could be China... 

[Crazyhen]

Got another ‘egg’ from Ganzhou.  It looks like a plaster, is it a real egg?

[HamptonsDoc]

Very strange. Haven’t seen any eggs that look like that. Not sure what this is! 

[Seguidora-de-Isis]

2 hours ago, Crazyhen said:

Got another ‘egg’ from Ganzhou.  It looks like a plaster, is it a real egg?

 

I'm sorry, but this is not an egg my dear friend Crazyhen. It's an Banded Agate Nodule!

 

A little while ago, I got into a problem identical to yours:

 

 

 

 

So I decided to cut this stone in the middle:

 

 

It was then that I had this pleasant surprise:

 

 

Banded Agate Nodule! 

 

Special thanks to my friends who helped me: @ynot, @Troodon, @WhodamanHD and @goatinformationist.

 

[Pemphix]

Definitely no egg - just mineral concretion of some kind.