Dinosaur teeth collecting advice

[PeterD]

Hi, whilst I’m a new member I have spent many interesting hours reading threads on the forum. Quick intro, I live on the Jurassic coast of Dorset UK and mainly collect what I find.

However my interest is growing towards dinosaur fossils and in particular teeth.

As many forum members are seasoned collectors I wanted to reach out for advice.

Whilst there are many teeth available on dealers websites is it fair to assume that the higher quality and rarer examples rarely reach dealers?

How do the more seasoned collectors advance their collections?

Is there any issues buying directly from eg The US with UK customs?

I’m sure there are many more questions but all advice would be very welcome.

Thanks

[FB003]

I can't speak to all of that but:

 

1) I think you fill find many rare items in private collections. There are some available online but obviously at a very heavy cost sometimes if they are.  You can find many high quality teeth online. The combination of rare and high quality are the ones you often never see or sell so quick you didn't get to see them.

2) A lot of advancing comes at a cost. Whether its purchasing or paying to travel and dig yourself hoping to get lucky.  Alot of advancement is also through trading.

3) The people from UK can answer the customs question but I don't believe there are any issues with shipments from the US that I've heard of other than cost.

Edited August 28 by FB003

[Runner64]

A little relatable:

1. Most rare and high quality material is sold before it reaches online postings.  In many cases, if a dealer finds something special, there's usually a waitlist for it.

2. Buy/sell/trade through connections

3. I have never had issues sending/receiving packages between US & UK.  Although UK requires you to pay a customs fee for importing fossils which can get costly.

[JorisVV]

Dont need to purely from the US. What my experience is having good contacts within europe and the us mixed is the best thing to do.

 

Do not agree on high quality material likely being sold before its going online, but with rather rare species i'd say yes.

 

Custom fee is annoying. Always more than expected. 

 

[PeterD]

Thank you all for your responses, firstly thanks for the reassurance regarding importing, I was concerned that there may be restrictions in place that I was not aware of but it seems that it’s not a problem subject to the correct taxes.

As I’m just starting out, it looks like making contacts is the only way forward but I’m guessing that will come with time as I build my collection with more easily available items contacts will be made etc.

Thanks again.

[FB003]

Honestly, Kem Kem and USA material is the easiest place to start.  Lot's of it out there and not going to break the bank if you are buying for the most part.

[TyBoy]

Collecting teeth can be fun.   The only caution I can offer is not to trust the identifications in what you see sold.  Sellers are not the best in the identification of teeth, most just flip a wide variety of fossils.  Always run your interests by this forum to get a confirmation.

Edited August 29 by TyBoy