Fossil Pearl found in back yard.

[YHammouda-Eyre]

Hi PearlGuiders,

OK. Bodecia have a photo this time. This fossil pearl weighs approx. 3 grams, and the size is roughly 18mm +/- x 15mm +/-) and was found in the back yard where seashells are also often found in landscape for mulch - and this pearl was in one of the shells.

Fossils of all sorts, its reported are found in the shells - from bone fragments to shark's teeth to coprolite (dino poo). The neighbor has also been a fossil hunter for decades and agrees that this is indeed a fossil pearl.

We are interested in knowing if the outer coating that is chipped can be removed without further damage to the pearl, or should it be left alone? Apparently it is quite brittle, but the underlying portion seems to be quite solid.

Besides archaeological, do fossil pearls have a value? Photo of this specimen, is attached. Thanks PGiers.

with regards
Yvonne

www.antique-jewelry-investor.com

[Kevin Canning]

its hard to tell from the small pic, but how can you tell its a pearl and not a rock or piece of bone? I'm guessing its more obvious in person, but I'm curious what pearly characteristics it shows?

[YHammouda-Eyre]

Hi Kevin,

yes, the characteristics in fossil pearls are not the same as in modern pearls. i knew that fossil pearls are very old and very rare. not very much. Not many people seem to know much, about these types of pearls, but here we have them, as collectors and their collections can testify and so for the fossil pearl technically challenged and in consideration of the magnitude of the current catastrophic oil "spill" in the gulf of mexico and the rapid destruction of the fragile marine ecosystems around the globe, pearls in the earth, if we don't wake up, and stop drilling, may not be as uncommon as pearls in the sea. Prompted me to do some fossil pearl research and would like to share, with pearl lovers and all people interested in the fascinating subject of fossil pearls what I found out. I've also wondered about appraising these types of pearls. AGTA and GIA can test to determine if they are natural.

Let's begin by defining exactly what is meant by a "fossil pearl".

The American Museum of Natural History's web site defines fossil pearls as:

The Oldest known fossil pearls date from 230-210 million years ago, although mollusks have undoubtedly been producing pearls since they first appeared about 530 million years ago. Always rare, fossil pearls are almost always associated with marine bivalves, although ancient freshwater mollusks also produced pearls. During a pearl's fossilization, the aragonite (the mineral that makes up most of the pearl) is replaced by calcite or another mineral, but in cross-section the fossil pearls show the same concentric layers in as in modern pearls. Occasionally the original aragonite is preserved with its nacreous luster.

Concentric layers like you see in modern pearls is therefore a definitive clue.

The collection of fossil pearls in the Heuckeroth fossil pearl collection, is said to be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Lorna and her husband are husband and wife fossil shell hunters from Florida. Some of the single pearls in their collection come from the Pliocene era and some still have their nacre.

The Pleistocence and the Pliocence periods are like no other and have a geologic time scale is the period from 1,808,000 to 11,550 years BP. The quality of shells from this period is like no other.

Fossil shell hunters will tell you its an addition and some people start out by hunting bones and shark's teeth and then graduate to fossil shells.

K. C. Bell also has a fine fossil pearl collection. Here is a collection of some of specimens in the collection to show yet another facet to this relatively unknown and rare type of pearl. Many of the fossil pearls, as we can see, don't look anything like pearls we see today, so the usual criteria for judging and valuing these types of pearls should be integrated with scientific and archeological evaluation.

More information about fossil pearls by contacting fossil pearl expert:

K. C. at KCB Natural Pearls / 1530 48th Avenue / San Francisco CA.
E-mail: kcnaturalpearlsATcsDOTcom

the photos are some of the pearls in K.C. Bell's Fossil Collection

with regards
Yvonne Hammouda-Eyre

www.antique-jewelry-investor.com


Reference:

http://www.pearls.com/news2/pp42/Fossil_Pearls.pdf