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CASEY yyyy
hay everyone im just wondering where is the best place to buy real dinosaur fossils on the computer''' im worrid i could buy fake fossils' iv also seen dinosaur fossils on ebay' thay are to chaep to be real!
AtlantisRises
I'm not sure.

I doubt if you can buy them legally as they would undoubtably be considered Antiquities.

But even if you can I presume they would be incredibly expensive based solely on the rarity of them.
Samael
The ultimate steps to getting hold of an authentic dinosaur fossil:
  1. Be obscenely rich
  2. Go to a museum and ask how much they want for their...Iguanadon, say.
  3. If they say no, keep on at them until they agree
  4. If they just won't change their minds, steal it from them (has been done in the past).
Therefore there isn't much chance of getting one without winning the lottery first.

EDIT: Alternatively, you could go strolling along the beach on the Isle of Wight and hope you get lucky. For even more detailed information, go here
RachelM
Here are some links for dinosaur bones/teeth for sale:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

Lord Umbarger
I guess that it woud depend on which dino you would prefer to buy. Some are more common than others. Of course, if you are just looking for foissils, I live in South Georgia, (the one in the U.S.A.), and we have fossil sea life all over the place, from clams and oysters to ancient shark teeth.
draconic chronicler
Actually, most of the dinosaur fossils sold on Ebay are real. The expensive ones that sound "too good to be true" are probably fakes. Many of these dealers are long established and have reputations to maintain.

Sometimes though, things are real, but misrepresented. For example some dinsoaur coprolites are actuall less ancient mammalian coprolites.

A good, authentic dinosaur fossil that is very reasonably priced are spinosaurus teeth, and you will always find these on ebay. Some are only a few bucks and they are definately original. They are collected mostly in Morrocco and Tunisia, and I have actually found some there myself. Mosasaur (not a dino) teeth are also found in those areas and are fairly cheap. You can also legally collect dino fossils on private ranches out west I have heard, but on US public hand I believe all vertebrate fossils are protected.
Lord Umbarger
One other thing to add. I've been told that, with arrow heads anyway, if you find it on the surface you can collect it but you are not supposed to dig them up.
I don't know for sure so check with the local government where you plan to hunt before you go on a dino hunt with a backhoe or anything.
jedi_yarael_poof
Credibility is why I don't buy fossils on the internet. I just went to a fossil, rock, and gem show last month in Tulsa, so I suppose you could search google for some local rock and fossil collectors and see if there's any upcoming shows. 3 shows I know of will be in Austin, Dallas, and West Palm Beach Florida info here .
bigdog112
QUOTE(AtlantisRises @ Nov 13 2006, 10:46 AM) [snapback]1425364[/snapback]

I'm not sure.

I doubt if you can buy them legally as they would undoubtably be considered Antiquities.

But even if you can I presume they would be incredibly expensive based solely on the rarity of them.


not true in china dinosaur bones are used as a aphrodisiac and it is worth about 20 dollars US. There found every where thay are not full sets but they are every thing from small claws to teeth.
ivytheplant
QUOTE(bigdog112 @ Nov 26 2006, 01:27 AM) [snapback]1439311[/snapback]

not true in china dinosaur bones are used as a aphrodisiac and it is worth about 20 dollars US. There found every where thay are not full sets but they are every thing from small claws to teeth.


Yeah, but isn't just about everything used as an aphrodisiac in China?

Spinosaurus teeth are pretty cheap. I have a fairly nice, detailed one that I got for about $8. I also have a Cretaceous shrimp. It's not a therapod, but it's still a "dinoshrimp." Though good luck finding them now. I got it a couple years ago at the Denver mineral show. Before Lebanon was bombed all to heck. This fall when I was at the show, they had quintupled in price.

At the Denver show, I've seen everything from insects in amber ($5-$5000) to a full cast of a Tyrannosaurus. Man, if I had $1.2 million on me that day...

You can easily get fossilized bones from the Cretaceous and Jurassic by the pound. I've even seen it carved and polished as jewelry and decorative items. The only thing is you don't know what animal it's from. China has a gigantic market for fossils and some of the best finds on earth.

Unless I've only seen one side of the market, all the Tyrannosaur bones I've seen have been really expensive. So be wary of people selling them for low prices. Most online places are reputable though. And you can't go wrong at a mineral and fossil show.
calculator tape
People, where is your sense of scientific morality? Good God! Jumping on the "I love Dinosaurs" bandwagon only to turn around and support the very organizations that are a detriment to palontological research by buying dinosaur fossils because you want them on your bedroom shelves...shameful. The joy in paleontology comes from allowing others to share in your discoveries and new findings, not squirreling things away in your homes. Currently, the law does allow fossils to be collected off of private lands with the landower's permission (the law views these fossils as land). Never ever ever take dinosaur bones from public lands. It is against the law. It is okay to take petrified wood and typical invertebrates like clams and snails, but all vertebrates are protected (Per BLM in USA). It is not a matter of surface collecting vs. digging. Stealing is stealing. When you take something off public land, you take it away from the entire country. When you try and purchase fossils from Africa or China, you are supporting poachers who destroy potentially valuable finds just to get a few teeth or scrappy bits of this-or-that because people are out there wanting to buy it. Chances are, a good percentage of any fossils for sale from China or Africa are so illegally. If you really love dinosaurs and paleontology, you will not seek out and purchase dinosaur fossils. Think about it.
ivytheplant
Um, the reputable dealers from China most likely aren't poaching. I could be wrong about this, but there are probably things like "private property" and "fossil collecting rights" in China just as it is here. What is it with people who think that just because something comes from China it's automatically poached or black market?

And as for taking away from the scientific community, give me a break. There's a ton of invertebrates, spinosaur teeth, mammal teeth, fossil fish, etc. in the world and people can't get rid of them fast enough. Half my fossils came from the research museum I worked at because they had more than enough and were going to destroy the piles and piles of extras. When I worked for the National Park Service we were given Green River fish fossils by the private quarries and most got destroyed for use in children's programs if not thrown out completely. My uncle, a professor of geology, just loaded up boxes and boxes of rocks and fossils from his own university that were going to the dump because they

And when it comes down to it, private property is private property and they can do whatever they want with it. Not all private quarries and collectors are amoral simpletons trying to make a buck rather than helping out scientific research. All the quarries I've worked at have done more than their share of donating to museums, scientific research, visitor centers, etc all out of pocket. A private quarry near Fossil Butte spent hundreds of hours to unearth one of the most amazing Green River Formation crocodile skeletons ever found and then donated a full-size, research quality cast to Fossil Butte, all out of pocket. Yeah, they made some money off the skeleton by selling it to a private collector (after thorough scientific examinations), but they were responsible enough to make it available to the scientific community and the general public.

And another thing. Most research universities and research museums don't work on actual fossil bones if they can help it. They make research-quality casts for their researchers to use because they can be examined in full detail without risk of destroying the bone. When they do use the bone for dating, composition testing, etc, it destroys the bone itself. Twenty years down the line, the fossil will have lost valuable info from all the use and someone who wants to research it are out of luck. At the UW Geological museum, we have a full cast of an Allosaurus that was found in this state. Because the cast is so detailed (and the cast even picked up imperfections that weren't detected on the original) students routinely dismantle it for research. We couldn't do that if it was the original.

So yeah, some people are selfish pricks and are out to make a buck and don't give a damn about science, but some kid who just wants to be able to have a spinosaurus tooth to look at and study isn't going to bring down the whole research community. Not everyone who collects dinosaur fossils just wants it to look pretty on their shelves. Not everyone has the advantage of getting to go to the Museum of Natural History every weekend. Hell, I never even saw a museum until I went to college. I would have killed to get my hands on even a trilobite to examine. And not everyone has the advantage of being able to go to a college to study paleontology. Most people have to make due with what they have, and if that means buying a dinosaur flanges, then so be it.

The attitude that fossils should be "saved" for research and science only drives me absolutely bananas. When I was at the Minnesota Science Museum years and years ago, I kept asking if the fossils I was looking at were real. Every time, I was told that they were casts and the real fossils were stuck in some dusty box somewhere. It was heartbreaking to go to a museum and not even be able to see real dinosaurs, much less get to touch them (the UW museum only has a couple that are casts and we allow people to touch them). I was 18 years old and devastated, can you imagine how it would feel to a kid to be told that the dinosaurs they're seeing are fakes (and despite explaining it to them, the kids still see them as fakes...I worked in museums, I've seen hundreds of crestfallen faces).

So like I said, there's pricks out there hoarding dinosaurs for pure profit, but most people who purchase larger dinosaur fossils are purchasing fossils that have already been thoroughly examined by scientists, are in extreme abundance, or are nothing that's a huge discovery. Every nest of dinosaur eggs I've seen for sale have been examined to the point of nauseum. If there's something left to be discovered in it, we don't have the technology to detect it. You forget that these profesional collectors are themselves scientists.

Besides, what average person can afford a T-rex skeleton when even the cast costs $1.2 million?

I'm sorry to get so agitated, but I tend to get all grrr-y when there's this idea that fossils (or other things) are supposed to be locked up in the "ivory towers" accessible only to scientists. It's no wonder the general public has a tendency to view scientists as these snooty overlords and there's so many conspiracists thinking scientists dole out information to profit themselves.
sadistic jellyfish of doom
Well, you could try looking for them. That's how I found a trilobite fossil.
ivytheplant
Best fossils I ever found:

Lots of invertebrates (I love brachiopods) at the brickworks in St. Paul near the Mississippi. All the limestone was in a huge pile that was ripe for digging through since it was "waste."

Trilobites in Cache National Forest in Idaho. Took forever to find the collecting location, but once I did, I scored. My companion spent his time digging high up on the cliff and came away with one or two. I dug around at the bottom in the "reject" piles and got some beautiful examples. Of course, the shales was so fragile and crappy that I got a beautiful mass death specimen home, set it on the table, and it crumbled into many pieces. Also near there were fossilized worm burrows in a mica-ish shale.

And of course the fossil fish and plants I found digging around the Green River formation. And lots and lots of fish poo. LOTS of fish poo.

There's some absolutely brilliant ammonites in a cave in the National Park I grew up in, but I can't collect them of course. Plus the only way to get there is by canoe and canoes aren't that great for hauling rocks. On some property bordering the park is a gigantic monolith-looking thing that's filled with fossilized tree trunks that were buried in a flood.

Lots of prehistoric lobsters too around there. Wish I knew the age they're from. I know where to look, I just haven't been bothered to.
calculator tape
I did mention that most invertebrate fossils such as petrified wood, bivalves, etc. are allowed to be collected by the general public from public lands.

Any museum that serves as a federal repository for fossils from public lands is open to the public for visitation. The fossils belong to everyone, but not everyone can just touch them willy nilly. You should be able to make an appointment to visit and view collections if you really have a burning desire to see what's downstairs. If you were upset because the museum you went to didn't have an actual T. rex, but a cast, welcome to the world of paleontology...sample size = 1. Most museums will have casts of popular specimens because there are a limited amount of the actual specimens. People shouldn't treat the word 'cast' as slander or libel. Casts are valuable resource and research tools. Often museums will keep casts in their collections because they are exact copies of the fossils. I get peeved when people think scientists are greedy and don't wish to share with the public. The only way science can survive is if it is shared with everyone, but you cannot let everyday untrained people have unrestricted access to delicate and valuable research specimens.
ivytheplant
QUOTE(calculator tape @ Dec 9 2006, 03:11 PM) [snapback]1456200[/snapback]
I did mention that most invertebrate fossils such as petrified wood, bivalves, etc. are allowed to be collected by the general public from public lands.

Any museum that serves as a federal repository for fossils from public lands is open to the public for visitation. The fossils belong to everyone, but not everyone can just touch them willy nilly. You should be able to make an appointment to visit and view collections if you really have a burning desire to see what's downstairs. If you were upset because the museum you went to didn't have an actual T. rex, but a cast, welcome to the world of paleontology...sample size = 1. Most museums will have casts of popular specimens because there are a limited amount of the actual specimens. People shouldn't treat the word 'cast' as slander or libel. Casts are valuable resource and research tools. Often museums will keep casts in their collections because they are exact copies of the fossils. I get peeved when people think scientists are greedy and don't wish to share with the public. The only way science can survive is if it is shared with everyone, but you cannot let everyday untrained people have unrestricted access to delicate and valuable research specimens.


Of course people aren't going to ever get trained unless they get to fondle some dinosaurs. My introduction to fossil preparation was being given a sandblaster, some picks, and a very nice fossil and told to "get to work." If I had to wait til I was trained, I would never have gotten anywhere near there.

And to kids, they still are fakes. Cool, but fakes.

And as I said, it's not like everyone on the planet can afford T-rex bones. The OP probably just wants one piece of dinosaur bone and unless you're talking about articulated skeletons, single bones from common dinosaurs are in abundance. There's buttloads of bones everywhere that are useless as research specimens.

And again, not everyone has the good fortune of being anywhere near a museum, especially one that would even have dinosaur and mammal fossils. Getting a rib off eBay might be the closest they can get.

Also, see those "trunks" next to the entrance? Those are apatosaurus femurs. That's what we call "yard rocks." wink2.gif
Jack_of_Blades
There was a fossil shop in the mall i live near
they had everything from shell fragments (i bought one)
to a Tyrannosaurus skull cast in the window.

A small list of things they had:
raccoon skulls, megalodon teeth,
amber, fossil lobsters, trillobites,
small fish, all kinds of teeth...etc.

But unfortunatly the shop closed
after only a few months. crying.gif
Gatofeo
QUOTE(Lord Umbarger @ Nov 15 2006, 03:40 AM) [snapback]1427777[/snapback]
One other thing to add. I've been told that, with arrow heads anyway, if you find it on the surface you can collect it but you are not supposed to dig them up.
I don't know for sure so check with the local government where you plan to hunt before you go on a dino hunt with a backhoe or anything.



In the United States there is a federal law known as the Antiquities Act of 1974. It makes it a federal crime to collect or disturb ANY artifacts or fossils from public land.
And bear in mind, the definition of an artifact is, "Anything made or used by man."
I've spoken with a local archaeologist and asked her, "Okay. So I find a 1960s Coke bottle in the desert. Can I keep it?"
"No, because it's an artifact," was her response.
She then added that anything older than 20 years should probably be left alone, or you'll risk prosecution.
By the same token, using a metal detector on federal or state land to find artifacts (keeping the above "20 years and older" in mind) is a crime.
If you use a metal detector on state or federal land to find artifacts, it is a crime. In the past 10 years or so, the prosecution of artifact thieves has risen considerably. It's not dismissed lightly as it once was.
The exception? You can dig artifacts or use metal detectors to find them ON PRIVATE LAND WITH THE OWNER'S PERMISSION. But you'd better have that permission in writing, just to cover your keester.
There is another exception --- You may use a metal detector on state or federal land for the sole purpose of prospecting. It may be used to find raw ores such as silver ore or gold nuggets --- but find a gold coin and you've once again entered the realm of an artifact.
I live in the remote Utah desert, where folks think they can run their metal detectors all over the place and dig up whatever they please from state and federal land.
Some years ago, a Ranger from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) cited two men for using metal detectors on federal land. In their possession were a few arrowheads, which they had found while using their detectors.
They had to appear in Federal Court in Salt Lake City and were fined a little over $2,000 each. I believe they also had to do some community service.
Utah doesn't fool around. It has one of the strongest records of prosecuting artifact poachers.
And this is as it should be.
When you steal an artifact, even a Coke bottle from the 1960s, you are depriving future generations of an understanding of the past.
What looks like an innocuous object to you may be a major find to the trained eye. This is especially true of arrowheads, spearpoints and other ancient items.
The latest issue of Archaeology magazine notes that the very spot where U.S. Army Sgt. Alvin York took over 100 Germans prisoner by himself in World War I may have been found.
How?
The topography matches, and over a dozen .45-caliber pistol cases were found in a pattern reminiscent of York's activities that led to this remarkable feat. This important site might never be known if some jackleg with a metal detector had dug up the cases and thrown them away as worthless.
Remember, if you live in the U.S. you may not use a metal detector on state or federal land to find anything but minerals. On private land, you need permission.
I was legally shooting an M1 Carbine some years ago on federal land and used my metal detector to find the empty cases in the dry grass. A BLM Ranger came along and asked what I was doing. I showed him the "artifacts" I found and he said it was okay for finding newly ejected cartridge cases, but warned I better not use it for any other artifacts.
Point taken.
kobie
me and my brother in law was digging over his garden when he cam across a strange object, at first i turned around and he was throwing something at the concrete ground, i asked what is he doing and he showed me this fossil,its of aquatic crustacean origin and has a very peculiar shape....well...in the instant i asked if i could take a closer look and he replied with "look","u cant break it"with that it shattered into three and abit pieces....ive kept it ever since but cant find any references to it, i may end up taking it to the natural history musem in london.....millions of years ago east of themes and london was sub tropical marshland so it must have a link to this area where the sea started to grow when the continent was on the move to a new climate change,
Jack Black
Fossil?......................lame joke i know!
Mac50
QUOTE(CASEY yyyy @ Nov 13 2006, 02:18 AM) [snapback]1424954[/snapback]
hay everyone im just wondering where is the best place to buy real dinosaur fossils on the computer''' im worrid i could buy fake fossils' iv also seen dinosaur fossils on ebay' thay are to chaep to be real!

HI CASSY
IF YOU ARE REALLY INTRESTED TO BUY A DINOSAUR TRY TO CONTACT MACREAL50@HOTMAIL.COM
ufo666
its CASEY YYY (changed my username)sorry i havent posted anything for the last 2 years its been 2 years since i posted this Q and all i can say MANY OF YOU WERE WRONG WAY WRONG!!!!you can get dinosaur fossils from many websights 'collectors and even ebay has real dinosaurs fossils on ebay there collected from places like hell creek and utah iv been collecting tham over a year i have spinosaurus teeth'tricaratops teeth' pterosaur teeth 'mososaur teeth'raptor teeth even dinosaur eggs and dinosaur eggshells thay cost me between $8.00 to $300 for the fossils so yeah there VERY EASY TO GET AND NOT THAT EXPANCIVE TREX TEETH AND RAPTOR CLAWS ARE MORE EXPANCIVE $1'000.00 TO $12'000 EA stay with teeth and its not that expancive so many of you were way wrong.
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