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Commonly faked, hard to tell 100%


DevonianDigger

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So, I found this guy on the auction site, really only this one representative photo. These are often fake or frakenfossils, but I didn't see anything that screamed fake to me in this one photo. Just wanted to put it out to the room for other people's input. It doesn't matter as I basically stole it for 9$, so even if it's fake, I don't much care. Just curious what everyone thinks. (I don't have more photos, I just bought it this morning, this is just the provided photo. I'll be able to tell if it's fake when it arrives this weekend for sure, but the suspense is just too much, lol.) Also, it's about 5" long, not that that matters.

 

 

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Jay A. Wollin

Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve

Hamburg, New York, USA

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You were ripped off. I just purchased the same trilobite shown in the picture for $3.75!!!!!!!! Just kidding. Looks ok to me but am not an expert at fakery.

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1 minute ago, minnbuckeye said:

You were ripped off. I just purchased the same trilobite shown in the picture for $3.75!!!!!!!! Just kidding. Looks ok to me but am not an expert at fakery.

 

Lol. Like I said, at $9 I really couldn't care less. If it's fake I'll just use it at Penn Dixie for educational presentations and let the kids touch and handle it. I thought it looked okay as well. I mean... it's a pretty poor example, but it doesn't look fake.

Jay A. Wollin

Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve

Hamburg, New York, USA

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I suspect mostly fake. A few bits of the pleura look real.........but regardless I would have paid $9 for it just to have an example to show people. 

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My guess is that some of the pleurae are real, but I have my doubts about the cephalon. Just can't really tell for sure from the photos. I purchased it from someone who doesn't sell fossils, it looks like someone who surfs estate sales and resells what they find online. Which, in my experience can be about 50/50 but I've snagged some really great deals from estates that just didn't know what they were trying to sell. (I'm not saying that I rip people off, but I don't turn down a good deal when I see one. Then I usually give them my card and tell them that if they come across fossils in the future that I can help them to figure out what they've got before they price it. And maybe sometimes I just buy them all right away for one flat price, lol!)

Jay A. Wollin

Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve

Hamburg, New York, USA

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I'd guess a small portion of it is real. I hate when the matrix looks perfectly worked around the edges.

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3 minutes ago, Bguild said:

I'd guess a small portion of it is real. I hate when the matrix looks perfectly worked around the edges.

 

Yeah, definitely not my favorite presentation. But again, at $9 I could use it as a coaster if nothing else, lol.

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Jay A. Wollin

Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve

Hamburg, New York, USA

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All the light-colored legs around the edge of the specimen are fake. Don't know about the rest. :default_rofl:

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Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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17 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

All the light-colored legs around the edge of the specimen are fake. Don't know about the rest. :default_rofl:

 

Lol! No way man, THE paleontologist told me that that was soft tissue preservation!

Jay A. Wollin

Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve

Hamburg, New York, USA

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Was hoping to see more opinions on this. When I zoom in very close, it appears to my novice eyes that the lighter yellow appears to be damaged areas while the darker looks relatively ok. If they would forge this one, why wouldn't they improve the overall quality??? My guess is mostly damage as it's flaw vs reconstruction??????? Hope more experts can chime in. @DevonianDigger, please tell us what you see when it arrives.

 

 Mike

 

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It's a genuine imitation of a faked bug that may or may not have actually been found. :thumbsu:

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

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The matrix is almost certainly made of resin, and much of the trilobite will be, too. I suspect that much of it will turn out to be authentic, or at least pieces of authentic specimens placed into the resin. You sometimes find that real trilobite can actually be found beneath the resin, because they don't just construct new parts, they also cover over pieces they don't think look good enough.

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1 hour ago, Aurelius said:

The matrix is almost certainly made of resin, and much of the trilobite will be, too. I suspect that much of it will turn out to be authentic, or at least pieces of authentic specimens placed into the resin. You sometimes find that real trilobite can actually be found beneath the resin, because they don't just construct new parts, they also cover over pieces they don't think look good enough.

I wonder why they don't just sell it as it actually is. Aren't they losing money on the additional labor?

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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4 hours ago, Aurelius said:

almost certainly made of resin

I am not disputing in any way this  matrix is resin . I just was wondering how you can tell by this blurry photo . Does the tool mark look to even or no change in colour variations of the matrix ?

 Cheers Bobby 

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I got it in yesterday, haven't had a chance to photograph it properly yet, but from all inspection from my part, I got lucky. Bugger looks legit. I mean, a garbage specimen, but real at least from what I can tell.

Jay A. Wollin

Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve

Hamburg, New York, USA

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19 minutes ago, DevonianDigger said:

I got it in yesterday, haven't had a chance to photograph it properly yet, but from all inspection from my part, I got lucky. Bugger looks legit. I mean, a garbage specimen, but real at least from what I can tell.

Nice bargain, if it is real then no fossil is garbage in my book. Congratulations on great a purchase 

:wub:

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Probably a cast,  a complete fake, or maybe few real parts inlayed - at least judging from that pic. What type of inspection?

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