Advice needed on Meg tooth

[RhinoWater]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm a new fossil collector and have been wanting to purchase a megalodon tooth for a while.

I have come across this tooth that's fairly priced and am wondering if it's too good to be true.

The seller is unable to confirm the place of origin.

Any advice or help is kindly appreciated.

Also, how would one identify if a Meg tooth is real or a fake/replica?

 

Thank you and appreciate any help given.

[Phos_01]

From these photos I would lean towards an Indonesian Meg. 

 

The blade is real and ok, its pretty common.

 

To me, the root is a definite fake / fabrication. And for this reason I would stay away. There are tons of good Meg teeth available. If you keep it under the 6inch / 15 cm mark, they are pretty inexpencive . 

 

Good luck 

[RhinoWater]

I see. Thanks for the advice!

How do you tell that the root is a fake/fabrication? Thank you.

[RJB]

Even some of the Indonesian blades are also fake but super good looking.  I cannot tell the difference of a fake Indonesian blade and a real one.  They are that good.  I stay away from all Indonesian sharks teeth and all other fossils too for that matter.

 

RB

[RhinoWater]

Oh I see. Thank you for your insights and advice! Appreciate it. 

[Phos_01]

3 hours ago, RhinoWater said:

How do you tell that the root is a fake/fabrication?

This example, the root looks far to perfect and clean , like concrete , usually they are bit eaten away by time, and contain cracks etc  ,and have multiple colorisations, this one is also single colored, its badly done. 

 

Here is an example of a real root how it should look like .

 

A real one and good blade does not have to be expensive. 

My advice, try to learn as much as possible before you buy one, and spent a little more on a top quality one, rather then buying a random one and learning lateron that it was not that good. (Thats what happened to me) 

[RhinoWater]

Oh, nice! This is very informative. Thank you for sharing this with me. 

[mr.cheese]

Very very broadly speaking lighter coloured ones are from Java/Indonesia and dark ones as in black or there abouts are from South Carolina.

 

Lots but not all of the Indonesian ones seem to be coming from a sandstone type of ground and that is the minerals that the root has been comprised of as it fossilised. So they are very fragile and that is why the roots tend to be faked.

The South Carolina ones can of sometimes passed through gravel beds over time and be found in riverbeds or land with gravelly soil so can have lots of wear to the enamel and serrations as they have been tumbled along.

This is very sweeping and certainly not scientific but I just hope to give you an idea of what you are looking at.

 

You can pick up Indonesian teeth with no roots very cheap with fantastic enamel and serrations on them. Personally I would consider just buying a cheap one of those say about 3 inches of enamel shouldn't cost you three figures. That will give you something to study and learn from to get you going in the right direction for a bigger purchase.

 

Oh and I agree your one has a faked root I am afraid!

[RhinoWater]

I learnt a lot. I didn't know that the root of Indonesian Meg tooth are commonly faked. Thank you for the insightful information. I would have made a bad and uninformed purchase otherwise.

Much appreciated! =D

[Troodon]

5 hours ago, RhinoWater said:

How do you tell that the root is a fake/fabrication? Thank you

They can get quite good at creating roots.  Some can be very difficult to identify and we've had good debates on some.   Always risky especially if your buying from a local source.  Real ones this size can be valued in the thousands.