CURT Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Has anyone heard of a dealer on Ebay called Sahara Imports. He's based in Chicago and has an Ebay store called Gifts From the Past. He claims his stuff is authentic and that he collects and preps himself, but with all the fakes, well, you know. His bidding starts at $9.99 for some pretty hot species, and you know what they say. If it's too good to be true...... What do you think? Curt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I'd never pay a penny for a Moroccan trilobite I didn't see in person -- and with a magnifying glass. There is so much sneaky repair work on them, you rarely get what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members geofossil Posted April 18, 2008 Members Share Posted April 18, 2008 I'd never pay a penny for a Moroccan trilobite I didn't see in person -- and with a magnifying glass. There is so much sneaky repair work on them, you rarely get what you pay for. I wouldn't pay a penny for any fossil but, if I did, I'd also be leary of anything from 'Morocco'. I'd only moderate that advice if I was knowledgable of the actual material from Morocco. Perhaps a collector in France, Spain or Morocco itself has the knowledge to make an intelligent purchase. Re: 'Morocco'. If you do decide to buy a fossil from that country, be sure to get the 'exact' location,formation,etc. and do a bit of research. Where is the type specimen of that species from? What literature is it in? etc. I don't have the knowledge about trilobites to comment on what's sold out of Morocco but do know dino material and wouldn't touch any 'Moroccan' dino material with the proverbial ten foot pole. There's a lot of misidentified and altered material passed from hand to hand and also lots of fossils from elsewhere (legal and illegal) and sold as Moroccan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Re: 'Morocco'. If you do decide to buy a fossil from that country, be sure to get the 'exact' location,formation,etc. and do a bit of research. Where is the type specimen of that species from? What literature is it in? etc. I don't have the knowledge about trilobites to comment on what's sold out of Morocco but do know dino material and wouldn't touch any 'Moroccan' dino material with the proverbial ten foot pole. There's a lot of misidentified and altered material passed from hand to hand and also lots of fossils from elsewhere (legal and illegal) and sold as Moroccan. Ditto for Chinese material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilospain Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Has anyone heard of a dealer on Ebay called Sahara Imports. He's based in Chicago and has an Ebay store called Gifts From the Past. He claims his stuff is authentic and that he collects and preps himself, but with all the fakes, well, you know. His bidding starts at $9.99 for some pretty hot species, and you know what they say. If it's too good to be true...... What do you think? Curt Hello Curt. I can't find this dealer in ebay, if you write address non problem for me to have a look or say me the name of trilobites and try look for again. Anyway, be careful with that kind of material. I never buy Morocco fossils in ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Also watch out for bulk Trilo deals on E-bay, I bought 2 sets at one time and had some problems. One set was perfectly fine, and had no restoration(worth the full cost of everything in my opinion) The second batch had 2 fakes(or they are severely prepped) and some other very much prepped Trilos. All the same species which they were supposed to be various. Although these were still cheap enough for fairly good reproductions for study and looks, I would have paid more to have all of them real. I don't buy trilos off of eBay anymore they are too easily faked. There is an excellent guide to buying trilobites on ... EDIT: deleted... I will post the link below. ... EDIT: deleted.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilospain Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I just find it. For me only asteropyge could be a good price 9.99 $. About the other (9,99) I only can say that many of them look like suspicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moroccofossils Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 hello every one . i see that many are asking about moroccain trilobites i used to sell fossils stone an dthings maked from fossils marble stone but i always carefule about trilobite cause for the moment some guys tray to make them from sand or stone power with black collor so they facs but if you dont well about them it easy that you will get some facts and not reall . but from the time to time i collect some nice trilobite from some poeples but always have to cheek the eyes . becarfule what you buy from websites always Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOROPUS Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 quote name='geofossil' date='Apr 18 2008, 07:54 PM' post='11540'] I wouldn't pay a penny for any fossil but, if I did, I'd also be leary of anything from 'Morocco'. I'd only moderate that advice if I was knowledgable of the actual material from Morocco. Perhaps a collector in France, Spain or Morocco itself has the knowledge to make an intelligent purchase. Re: 'Morocco'. If you do decide to buy a fossil from that country, be sure to get the 'exact' location,formation,etc. and do a bit of research. Where is the type specimen of that species from? What literature is it in? etc. I don't have the knowledge about trilobites to comment on what's sold out of Morocco but do know dino material and wouldn't touch any 'Moroccan' dino material with the proverbial ten foot pole. There's a lot of misidentified and altered material passed from hand to hand and also lots of fossils from elsewhere (legal and illegal) and sold as Moroccan. For the trilos, a good magnifier will help a lot.The fake ones are quite or very porous, while if they are real ones, and come from Erfoud (Devonic ones),they have a shiny shell,and detailed eyes and exoskeleton.The rock has to be very hard, and never be dissolved by water.The difference of colour indicates that it is suspicious (they even "reconstruct "them wrongly! ).But if you are triying to buy trilos from Erfoud, only if you can see them by yourself,and magnify them,can be safely buy.Here I post some real ones recently Id by members of the site: This one is Paralejurus Rehamnanus from Erfoud Morocco (look at the detail) and this one: Gerastos Granulosus, from same place and era.Normally this type of trilo go in little groups, due to their lenght Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 ... EDIT: deleted.. has a good tutorial on faked trilos; well worth perusing: ... EDIT: deleted.. And more from fossilmuseum.net: http://www.fossilmuseum.net/collect/fake-trilobites.htm "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinus Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I no longer purchase trilobites from Morroco because of all the fakes. Some fakes are so good that it is difficult to tell. Faking is not limited to Morroco. Here is a trilobite from Ontario, Canada. Can you tell what is fake? I can assure that there is fakery present. I found the trilobite, so I know what it looked like before the repair work. I only wish I had a before picture. I am not against good repair work. In a lot of cases it is necessary to show the true beauty of a specimen. I only wish anyone selling a fossil would reveal what has been done to it. Answer as to what is fake on this trilobite - tomorrow. Crinus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Wow! Nice restoration. Repair done to the right side genal spine, some thoraxic segments, and the pygidial spine.(?) The darker areas.(?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I believe Solius got it, top cheek spine, the area just below that, what he called the thoraxic area (to me just the tips of the little pointy things, and also the lower tail spine thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Most of the right pleural lobe, from cephalon to pygidium, looks suspicious, as does the left pygidial spine. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinus Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I no longer purchase trilobites from Morroco because of all the fakes. Some fakes are so good that it is difficult to tell. Faking is not limited to Morroco. Here is a trilobite from Ontario, Canada. Can you tell what is fake? I can assure that there is fakery present. I found the trilobite, so I know what it looked like before the repair work. I only wish I had a before picture. I am not against good repair work. In a lot of cases it is necessary to show the true beauty of a specimen. I only wish anyone selling a fossil would reveal what has been done to it. Answer as to what is fake on this trilobite - tomorrow. Crinus Answer - Everthing to the right side of the black line. Yes, that means that the entire pygidium is fake as is all the rock to the right side of the line. There was nothing there. The line is the break mark. In the repair work, the rock has been added, a pygidium constructed, a couple of the bottom lobes repaired and then the break line was made to disappear. Looking from the back it is a bit suspicious but someonce could just say that the rock broke and that was part of the repair work and never mention that the entire pygidium is made of resin. If you use a UV light to detect fakery, the pygidium should glow. Everything to the left of the line is real. It was a beautiful specimen and needed to be repaired. It is very rare to find such a large specimen. The trilobite is 4 inches including the fake pygidium. My database for my collection mentions the repair work. If it ends up in a museum, they will have the information as to the extent of the repair work. crinus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Holey Toledo! Professional preppers really earn their keep; it's a beauty. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bone digger Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 great job, if you painted it the same colour you wouldn't be able to tell at all. I know you did the work, but are you sure the top cheek spine isn't repaired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moroccofossils Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 hello everone ! about factes trilobites here in morocco but i am wondring about some custmers they like to buy factes trilobites from the othere for what reasons if they stop buy factes trilobites from the othere i am sure they will stop make them or some trilobite custmers they like lei to others and sell them with expensive price and win much money for what . some they want facte trilobite cause they are cheaper and can give them to students in the school and reall trilobite get so rarelly and dificulte to find they go deep in sid of the stone. i did put some trilobite before : for any one intersting they are from Lahfira about 80 kms from rissani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinus Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 great job, if you painted it the same colour you wouldn't be able to tell at all. I know you did the work, but are you sure the top cheek spine isn't repaired? I know what you mean about the top genial spine. It doesn't look like the bottom genial spine, but I can assure you that the spine is real. There is matrix work around most of the trilobite. You end up doing a lot of matrix work when you are trying to cover a major repair job to the matrix itself. Since a new rock was added to the piece there was a lot of cement work that had to be covered up and made to look even all over the piece. This is exactly why I wish I had a before picture. Lately, I have been taking pictures of specimens before I start work on them. Those picture are entered into my database and will go with the fossil wherever it goes. I think all fakery should be documented. As for the repy from the morocco fossil dealer. I don't have a problem with selling fakes. The problem comes when something is sold as real and turns out to be fake. Fossil dealers have ruined the market for themselves because of selling fakes as real. By the way, I consider composites as fakes. Composites are made of real fossil parts put together to form a complete specimen. That is as bad a using resin to make a pygidium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOROPUS Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 I`ve post a new trilo for id; could you guess if it is not fake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synechodus Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Paleo Direct has a good tutorial on faked trilos; well worth perusing:... EDIT: deleted.. And more from fossilmuseum.net: ... EDIT: deleted.. For an inside look into the "Moroccan fossil industry" check "And the men who hold high places, Must be the ones to start To mould a new reality, Closer to the Heart" (Rush, "Closer to the Heart" from the album "A Farewell to Kings") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-EJ Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 That one video had me drewling in my coffee... What I'd give to collect in one of those quarries. Ed For an inside look into the "Moroccan fossil industry" check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossil hunter 44 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 i got this morocco n trilo on ebay for $20 a few months ago it doesn't look fake does it?. this is the store that i got it from http://search.stores.ebay.com/Brents-Fossi...2623919QQsofpZ0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I could not enlarge your photo, but to me this one looks real. But I would have to see it closer to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossil hunter 44 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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