Wow...now wouldn't that be the guide of all guides! Problem is....there is no real correct or incorrect way to collect sharks teeth....but wait....there is some good sound advice to help you along your way.
It is my opinion that collecting the very best specimens that you can afford is the right way to go. What usually happens with all new colllectors is they start off trying to collect the biggest bang for their buck. This is usuallyrepresented by a river worn South Carolina or Georgia Megalodon Sharktooth of rather low quality, or what those in the collecting world call "gemercial grade." Eventually if you collectlong enough than you willpurchase your first high grade tooth and never look back, and this is really what collecting is all about...and in my opinion makes the most sense. Why?
Because these are the specimens that not onlyhold their value but actually increase as time goes by. Withhigh qualitypurchases your money is never really gone. You can hold the tooth...enjoy it....andif the day gees that you get boredwith it orfind yourself in a situation whereyou need the money than you can sell itand in most instances at least get your money back, and if you've actually held onto it for a while....make a profit. Not many things in lifeyou can say thatabout.
Before I begin this next section, let me just say that it is really hard to gepare one tooth to anotherwhenyou arelooking for collecting characteristics, meaning its hard to gepare a 3 inch Peruvian Chubutensis vs a 6 inch South Carolina river tooth. Which one is better? Itdepends on a multitude of things.
But for the most part, the firstthingwe should all be looking for is quality, and I'dmostly skip the song and dance descriptionsand go to the pictures. Yes, read the description because you want to look for things like repairs, restoration work, is it polished? Butdon't get caught up in a seller tellingyou that the specimen before you is the greatest tooth on okay or the world forthat matter. Look at the pictures. If it lookslike the quality is low but the title says, "Gem Quality" or "MuseumQuality" than its still a low quality tooth.
And whatshould you be looking for in terms of quality?
1) No feeding damage to the blade or very little. There is a huge difference between afew nicked serrations and halfthe tooth missing.
2) Intact tip area. Although a pristine tip serration would always be ideal, its rarely realistic. But a nicked tip often decreases the value of a tooth greatly. A little natural rounding to the very tip is okay, but not a polished tip.
3)No excessive enamel peel. This often occurs just below the bourlette region on the display side of the tooth. You'll have to be your own judge on how much enamel peel you can live with, if any. There is no standard for this.I'd say on a big tooth...a little just below the bourlette is normal.On a smaller Meg, say under4 inches, I'd be looking for fully intact enamel.
4) 50-75% intact bourlette.This isone that really depends. Abourlette can really make a tooth but its often the very first thing to erode away so always insisting on a 100% intact bourlette is an unrealistic expectation. The big issuehere is visual appeal. You cansometimes have a bourlette that is 75% missing butthis flaw doesn'tdistract away from the tooth for various reasons. One reason would be that the bourlette and the area behind the flaked off bourlette are the same color so its actually hard to see at first glance that the bourletteis actually missing. Sometimes you'll get a bourlette that is 75% intact but that 25% missing is a serious eye sore. Its dead center orjust sticks out like a sore thumb and reallydistracts from thevisual appealof the tooth. You'll have to makea judgement call on this.
5) No excessive root erosion.Anice intact root isnot to much to askfor so youshouldn'tbe makinghuge sacrifices here.
6) 90% intact serrations. Again, this is going to have to be a judgment call. I personally like95-100% intact serrations. The tips of a few missing...not the end of the world. A big chunk missing outof the side of a tooth...is a big deal.
There are some other things to look for as well likehydration cracks,enamel gloss, growth lines in the root. I wouldn't set a standard for these things but you can eyeballthe tooth as a whole and see ifthere are any eye sores sticking out.
The next area is location, and this is where teeth can take a huge price jump.
You would think that a five inch tooth is a five inch tooth but in the world of collecting sharks teeth there is nothing further from the truth. A five inch tooth from Peru is light years more valueable than a five inch South Carolina specimen of equal quality. Why?
Well for starters, collecting in various locations has either stopped all together or begee illegal and this has made the prices for these such specimens sky rocket. Take Bone Valley teeth for example. These teeth are found in the phosphate mines in Polk County, Florida but the mine stopped letting collectors into the mine years ago. No collecting means no more new teeth geing from this area. Add that with the fact that Bone Valley teeth are some of the most visual appealing and you can see why the prices have gone through the roof. Its a simple supply and demand issue.
Both Peru and Chile decided to stop the exportation of fossils from their country and made it a crime if caught doing so. Again, no more teeth means prices went up. Five to seven years ago, teeth were geing out of everywhere it seemed, but that has all changed, and so has collecting as a whole.
My suggestion is to simply start off by buying what appeals to you. If you find that the specimen is not up to standard than return it or sell it yourself when you get tired of looking at it. The only way you are going to truly learn is to join in and make some purchases. If you find that collecting sharks teeth keeps your interest than do some google searches, check out some dealer websites to see what they are offering. I have tons of pictures on my site of sold teeth that you can look at to get an idea of quality. Email dealers or sellers here on okay...bug them...ask them a million dumb questions. If they can't find the time to answer your questions than bug another one. Ask me. I don't care if you buy a tooth from me or not....I'll still be happy to answer all your questions, and "what is a bourlette" is not a dumb question. Neither is "how do I tell the difference between an Auriculatus and an Angustidens?"
This guide was not intended to be an end to your learning but simply a first step. And don't be surprised if your an expert yourself in no time. I know alot of people out there were looking for the answers to all their collecting questions in one guide but its just not possible. Imagine if I had to do your job for a week and I said, "tell me what to look for when doing your job in a single one page guide." Impossible...most of what you know gees from the experience of doing and learning. The learning is in the doing (collecting).
Kind regards,
Garry Dye (Sydni816)
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