Small Shell Find // Should I Open It?

[JTArmen47]

I found a small shell fossil on a piece and there seems to be other fossil imprints that have sadly wore away. I was wondering however, if I should try and break it open. Being such a minute find, it's not a huge deal if it is lost, but I am also new to this and don't know how likely it would be to find more fossils within.

 

Note 01: The shell mold is very faint in the image and more pronounced in person. Seen on image No. 01.

Note 02: There seems - to me - to be a fold or seam in the rock that would seem to make it easier to split with a chisel. Seen on image No. 01, on the bottom right. 

Note 03: There are crystalline elements on the surface, much like small quartz formations or granite particulate, possible suggesting a geode?

 

 

 

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[Harry Pristis]

Welcome to the Forum, JT.  There are no shells to break apart.  You have a cast of the interior of a clam.  Such a cast is called a "steinkern."  

[JTArmen47]

10 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said:

Welcome to the Forum, JT.  There are no shells to break apart.  You have a cast of the interior of a clam.  Such a cast is called a "steinkern."  

Thanks for the comment. However, it looks to me to be an exterior cast of a clam or other shell. Also, thanks for the name of such a cast, good information for me.

Edited June 20, 2023 by JTArmen47

[Ludwigia]

Harry is correct in telling you that this is a cast of the interior of a clam. Like when you filled your bucket with sand as a child at the beach, turned it upside-down and lifted it away, leaving the internal mold of the bucket. Get it? I sorta doubt if there's a geode inside this thing, but you'll never know until you've tried, right?

[JTArmen47]

4 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Harry is correct in telling you that this is a cast of the interior of a clam. Like when you filled your bucket with sand as a child at the beach, turned it upside-down and lifted it away, leaving the internal mold of the bucket. Get it? I sorta doubt if there's a geode inside this thing, but you'll never know until you've tried, right?

Thanks for the comment and information. Kind of where i'm at on this piece, not super cool as is, but maybe something inside. 

[Mark Kmiecik]

Since this IS the inside it's not likely that there is anything inside.