Natural meteorite

[grace-angel]

I know meteorite and moldavite are not fossils but i hope someone will know,how can i recognize natural meteorite and moldavite from fake and manmade once? Dose moldovite naturly came in orbe shape? 

[Ludwigia]

That could be Moldavite in pics 1 & 4, but already pretumbled. Meteorite is for me impossible to judge just from photos, unless it's been sliced, revealing the inner structure.

[sTamprockcoin]

the "meteorite" looks more like like some geologic for of iron ore - limonite/hematite, but without slicing and complicated testing its impossible to tell.  Was there any iron mining/smelting in the history of the area where it was collected? Remember that the simplest/most common explanation is the best starting point!

[Bone Daddy]

All of the moldavites shown are fake unfortunately. Those are common forgeries from China that are flooding the market now, especially on eBay.

The stony specimen shown also appears to be non-meteoritic. It closely resembles river cobbles that the Chinese are passing off as Nantan meteorites. They also try to pass off manganese nodules and factory slags.

 

Buyer beware, especially on eBay. My advice - avoid any meteorite/tektite sellers on eBay that are based in the Far East.

 

[Bone Daddy]

eBay is not interested in stopping fakes - they only want to collect their fees. Many members of the meteorite community (including myself) have approached eBay and tried to fix this chronic problem. eBay has rebuffed us every time - they are simply not interesting in policing their marketplace in regards to meteorites and tektites.

Natural moldavite is never round or spherical in shape. Moldavite does not tumble polish well - it tends to break or form very uneven shapes. Tumbled moldavite is never uniform in shape or round. Moldavite is never red - never.

You will see a lot of the same shapes again and again on eBay - Moldavite pieces are unique and never identical or near-identical. The Chinese are using molds and green bottle glass to produce the same shapes. Just like with fossils, the Chinese market is flooded with fake meteorites and tektites. It's best to just avoid those sellers entirely.

 

 

 

[Kane]

@Bone Daddy

 

Just a reminder to you, and others, not to provide eBay links here, as that identifies sellers and could invite legal problems for the forum.  Also, as these threads become archived, the links are temporary in nature and thus would have no value to future readers who encounter this topic.

 

Posting pictures of the fakes is fine, just so long as there are no identifying details about the seller(s). The "TFF legal fund" is not exactly flush with cash