3173xx Cut Split PAIR Ammonite Deep Crystal Cavity 110myo Fossil 178mm XXL 7.1\" For Sale

Fossils were once found only in museums - NOW you can OWN one!!! You can hold in your hand a part of the ancient fossil record from the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth.This is the NEW batch from Madagascar. I brought in for Tucson with some of the best color and deepest cavities/pockets around, excellent batch!!! Super nice crystals, absolutely the best I have seen in years.Cleoniceras - These most colorful ammonites come from Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. Cleoniceras is the most common type in Madagascar. Variations in price are due to color differences and how many crystal cavities (or open \'cave like\' structures) in the segmentsWeight (lbs): 2.6 #Weight (g): 1140 gramSize (inches): 7.1\" x 6.0\"Size (mm): 178mm x 150mmMine location: Tulear, Madagascar 3173xx Cut Split PAIR Ammonite Deep Crystal Cavity 110myo Fossil 178mm XXL 7.1\" 3173xx Cut Split PAIR Ammonite Deep Crystal Cavity 110myo Fossil 178mm XXL 7.1\"

Click images to enlarge

Description

Imagine holding in your hand a 110 million year old fossil.  Some ammonites are much older than that, up to 450 million years old.  Even older than the dinosaurs.  Oceans at the time were teeming with life.  Predators were everywhere.  And it was a live fast, or die hard world for the ammonites.  Ancient ammonites closely resemble modern squids, octopus and the chambered nautilus.  Ammonites were carnivores, just like their modern cousins. 

Fossils were once found only in museums - NOW you can OWN one!!!  You can hold in your hand a part of the ancient fossil record from the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth.

This is the NEW batch from Madagascar.  I brought in for Tucson with some of the best color and deepest cavities/pockets around, excellent batch!!!  Super nice crystals, absolutely the best I have seen in years.

Description:  Ammonite Pair Split, Cut and Polished

Cleoniceras - These most colorful ammonites come from Madagascar, off the coast of Africa.  99% of the ammonites found in Madagascar are this species, with a smooth shell and angled \"S-shaped\" segments.  The animal actually lived in the very last segments.  (Variations in price are due to color differences and how many crystal cavities (or open \'cave like\' structures) in the segments.)  On average they lived 110 million years old.

Weight (lbs):  2.6 #

Weight (g): 1140 gram

Size (inches):  7.1\" x 5.75\"

Size (mm):   180 mm x 146 mm

Mine location: Tulear, Madagascar

Item Number: 3173  63

Retail value: $499 in retail about ammonites -

Closest living relative - Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish and it\'s closest MODERN cousin is the Chambered Nautilus.     

First appeared - in shallow seas 450 million year - in a catoclysmic event in the Cretaceous, with the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.

Began life - less than 1 mm in diameter.  About the size of a period in this sentence.  But they grew - reported to grow 400% bigger than - comprised of chambers growing as the ammonite did.  Making 13 new chambers each year.  The ammonite lived in the last section, called the living segment.

Medieval Europe - Ammonites were thought to be petrified snakes.  They were called \"snakestones\" or \"serpent stones\".  Ammonites were said to be evidence for the actions of St. Hilda and St. Patrick - who drove the snakes out of Ireland.  In ancient times, traders would carve the face of a snake into the wide end of the ammonite fossil and sell them to the public.

The name Ammonite - comes from their spiral shape.  The fossilized shells somewhat resembled tightly coiled rams\' horns.  Pliny the Elder (79 A.D. near Pompeii) called these fossils - ammonis cornua (\"horns of Ammon\") .  Because the Egyptian god Amman was typically depicted wearing ram\'s of ammonites - 

Cleoniceras - These most colorful ammonites come from Madagascar, off the coast of Africa.  99% of the ammonites found in Madagascar are this species, with a smooth shell and angled \"S-shaped\" segments.  The animal actually lived in the very last segments.  (Variations in price are due to color differences and how many crystal cavities (or open \'cave like\' structures) in the segments.)  On average they lived 110 million years old.

Cymatoceras - Wide body Madagascar ammonites, with \"C\" shaped cavities.   Some stand on their own and do not need stands.  Much rarer than the regular narrow body Cleoniceras.  More like a Wide Body Nautilus. (Limited quantities) Almost all gone.  They are past this level of digging.  Saw no new ones in Tucson.

Perisphinctes - Less than 1% of Madagascar ammonites are this type.  Ridges are on the back from a complete different growth pattern.  The chambers are also more compact and of a different shape.  Frequently one of the most brightly colored.  On normal ammonites, the middle is thicker.  On Perisphinctes the inner coils are smaller which is a rare occurance among ammonites.  These always command a high price.  (RARE)  ONLY a couple left.  NONE in Tucson.   (Almost sold out)

Anapuzosia - WIDE Body with D shaped segments inside.  (Regular Cleoniceras have S shaped segments) These are from a new areas of Madagascar and I am not sure how much longer they will last.  Very deep crystal cavities make them desirable.    New find of small ones.  These will not last, like many on this list they will be past that digging level soon.  Then they may not be available (Limited)

Phylloceras - WIDE Body with an odd V shape segment.  (Regular Cleoniceras have S shaped segments) These are from a new areas of Madagascar and I am not sure how much longer they will last. Very deep crystal cavities make them very desirable.   (VERY Limited)  Almost sold out.

Desmoceras - A Medium Body Ammonite similiar to the thin Cleoniceras, but wider body with a tighter coil of the shell. Usually with V- Shaped segments. Unlike the Cleoniceras which S-Shaped segments. ( were Limited supply)  SOLD OUT  I keep telling folks, when they are gone they are gone...

Goniatites - Curved ammonites from Morocco.  Small ones are moderately common.  Large ones up to 12\" are much rarer and in higher demand as decorator pieces. Even the medium size ones 5-8\" are getting very hard to obtain.  And the price will continue to rise.  The reason?  Very few have been found in the last three years.  The wide ones frequently stand by themselves, so they are always in high demand.  Usually grey, black and white in color. Sometimes in earth tones of brown and tan. 
Goniatites are frequently 400 million years old, some of the oldest ammonites.  (small ones 2-4\" are moderately common.  Medium and Large are rarer - especially ones over 5\".  I had to dig under tables at Tucson.  Open boxes and then beg the only two suppliers of these to sell me some.  They both tried to limit how many any one dealer could get.  Had to go back several days and bug them to get the quantity I did.) ONLY a few large ones in Tucson, they found very few this year.  The water level is too high.  So there will not be anymore.  Almost sold out.
Update - In fact, the old pocket has run out.  A new mine started and a few have trickled out.  However the cost is 2X to 3X what I have been paying.  So best to get them before I have to buy the new higher priced one!!!

Orthoceras - Straight ammonites from Morocco.  Frequently found with round Morocco ammonites called goniatites.  About 400 million years old, some of the oldest ammonites.  These are cephalopods like modern squid and octopus.  They mine these natural fossils in Morocco and have to cut away quite a bit of material to free them from the rock matrix.  Then polish them to a high shine.  An incredible fossil at a affordable price.  These are FREE standing, no need for stand.

Check our other listings for these and other types of fine Tucson Ammonite finds:

Madagascar:

****NEW FIND*** Spinoceras - Russian BLACK AND PYRITE ammonites.  Usually these are high end collector ONLY ammonites.  Normally costing $4,000 to $7,000 as they are that RARE.  I managed to get my hands on a very, very few reasonably price ones in the $1,000 - $2000 range for Large ones.  Normally the nice ones are $4,000 to $7,000.  It appears the river in Russia this Fall was running very high.  The river washed away a large area of the bank exposing these RARE ammonites.   So instead of seeing maybe 20 in Tucson I saw 200.  I jumped on these great find. If I don\'t sell them online, they go to my Fall shows and the collectors will eat them up. THESE will DEFINITELY NOT LAST.  The price will surely rise back to the former level of $4000 - $7000.  So definitely a good investment.

***NEW FIND*** BLACK AMMONITE - LESS THAN 1 in 100 is a black ammonite.  Very RARE and highly prized by collectors.    Five years ago these \"were\" found only 1 in 1000 ammonites.  However you are in luck, as they have a new find in Madagascar.  These will NOT last.  So you can pick one up for a better price.  Last year they hit a large quantity of these.  Tucson I saw maybe 10% of the volume I saw last year.  The price is sure to go back up when this new pocked of black ammonties run out.  You better get them now before the price goes back up and the quantity & quality go down.  LIMITED SUPPLY  When they dig past this level \"that\'s all folks.\"

***NEW FIND***

Margarite Daisy ammonite (probably Choffaticeras) - Tucson new find from Madagascar!!!!  So they are in all probability only found at ONE level of digging.   The people in Madagascar call them Margarite or \"Daisy\" flower ammonites as they resemble a local daisy flower.  Chambers have large crystal cavities with nice botryoidial (bumpy) formations.  Supersize the pictures for better viewing.  ALL SOLD OUT in Tucson. Mine are the last ones you will see....

Colors range from brown to grey to the ones I bought are more BLONDE.   Another dealer and good friend of mine had these, so I scooped up all the pretty ones he had.  Left a couple of grey ones for another dealer.  And yes they were not cheap, but when you see something this rare you have to grab it while is is available.  I saw only one other ammonite dealer in Tucson was WHOLESALING (i.e. selling to dealers&/stores) the two he had were for over $2000 each.  Mine were much better color and more reasonably priced.

All of them appear to be HUGE as no small ones are found.  So don\'t bother asking.  Everything we have is listed.  And we found no small ones.  No one did.  Ultra RARE, get them while they last, and they will not last long.  Universities are buying them up, for scientific study.  They are that RARE.  In Tucson, I saw only two (and they were not very nice, I know why they were left) .  Almost sold out.

When I tell you to get them NOW while they last, I mean it.  See the ones below that are sold out.

 

Temporarily SOLD out - When I say they are limited, \"good ones\" are limited.  And we won\'t buy inferior specimens.

Kosmoceras or Pyrite ammonites - Pyrite actually replaces the animal shell.  A very odd occurance.  (Calcite replaces the animal shell in most of the other ammonites.)  Pyrite ammonites are species Kosmoceras. Kosmoceras frequently have a opalized shell on the outside.  Occasionally this shell is rainbow iridescent.  Stunning colors of red, green, blue and other bright colors.  In Russia, they use a chemical solution to remove the shell on one-half of the ammonite.  This exposed the pyrite segments inside.  These are only found in Russia, in the Volga River area.  Most are around 165 million years old. Sold out.  Saw none in Tucson.

Temporarily back in - but the last we may see for a while...

Caloceras johnstoni - Beautiful rainbow iridescent ammonite imprinted into shale.  Golden bronze colored with sparkling rainbow highlights throughout.  These were very thin-walled Ammonites, which were crushed by tons of rock and debris during fossilization.  This is the case with most of the Ammonites found in the UK. Flattening of the specimen therefore, has increased the area of iridescence of the shell.   Making them absolutely beautiful.

The shell is composed of alternating layers of conchiolin and aragonite along with other minerals that have replaced the shell during this fossilization process. These not only transmits light but also diffract it.  Thus acting much as a \"Rowland prism\" to divide light into its component parts with certain wave lengths being heavily reinforced: glowing greens, spectacular reds with occasional brilliant blues and yellows.  The strongest most vibrant colors frequently start to show thru.

These Jurassic Ammonites are about 200 million years old and some of the RAREST in the world.  They come from Doniford Bay, Somerset UK and have fossilized in a brilliant metallic BRONZE ammolite like finish.  These are very difficult to photograph and look much better in person.  They are truly beautiful and hard to capture in their true stunning colors.

The chase - Ahead of the show, I contacted the only guy that has them in Tucson last year.  He is from the UK.  Told him I wanted them all, fine, he would be in on certain date.  I got to his room at the appointed 9 a.m. the day before show even started.   He had sold them all to a store owner.  I was not happy.  I managed to find another supplier at another hotel.  Much nicer ones than we usually see.  BUT these are HUGE, larger than a tennis ball can lid.  Most of the others on the internet are quarter size to occasionally silver dollar size.  These are over 3.5\" and I had to pay up, but the quality is worth it.  According to three different UK mineral dealers they guy that was getting these had to get a \"proper job\" and quit digging.  There well be no more of these.  Ultra RARE.  No discount.

Psiloceras planorbis - Beautiful rainbow iridescent ammonite imprinted into shale.  Metallic baby blue colored with sparkling rainbow highlights throughout.  These were very thin-walled Ammonites, which were crushed by tons of rock and debris during fossilization.  This is the case with most of the Ammonites found in the UK. Flattening of the specimen therefore, has increased the area of iridescence of the shell.   Making them absolutely beautiful.  More blue tone than Caloceras, above, smaller and more affordable.  Slightly more common, however the price has been rising....  (Rare, always in short supply and always will be rare)

We angle the pictures to show the colors that is why there are several from the same best I saved for last!!!  Back by popular demand.

Heteromorph - These are the strangest animals around.   A long \"J hook\" then a ammonite type shell.  At least 117myo.  (I am trying to find more research, as I recall reading somewhere that some species could be over 450 million years old and a precurser to the other ammonites.)  There is some speculation they also partially buried themselves in the mud and held their tentacles in unique way to feed, thus the shape.  This is all speculation.

Normally I only see 18-24\" ones that are between $800 and $2000.  However I found only 10 small ones in the 3-4\" range.  Normally they go for over $150 for the small ones in Ladies Coop -  Most ammonites come from Madagascar, off the coast of Africa.  Madagascar has all the problems that that the African continent has.  One way you and I can combat this is to buy our ammonites from a \'Ladies Coop\'.   This is where I get my ammonites.  Not all dealers buy from this source. We will get to the \'ladies coop\' in a minute.

A few facts about Madagascar - Average per capita income is $1000 to $1553 per year.  With an average family size of 6.6. 

That makes the average family income in Madagascar $6,600 to $10,000 per year.  Enough for the basics, but not much else.  Imagine trying to feed your family of 6-7 people with only $6600 per year?

Madagascar families have hard working people, they don\'t want a \'hand out\'.  But folks, we can give them a \'hand up\'.  The men go out and do the digging and rough surface mining.  Hot sweaty, back breaking work. The women at the \'ladies co-op\' work together as a team.  Splitting or cutting the ammonite down the middle with a diamond saw.  Then polishing the inside to a high gloss and then polishing outside to show the shells\' true variety.  This usually takes over 6 hours per ammonite.

Today 90% of the animals on Madagascar are found no where else.  Even in ancient times the ammonites of Madagascar\'s shallow sea were unique.  And no other local produces ammonites of such wide ranging colors.  Of the affordable ammonites, Madagascar produces the best and most colorful.

Your purchase helps feed a family in Madagascar.

 If you want combined shipping PLEASE email us,

BEFORE PAYING.
\'s shipping calculator does not work correctly.    Box Size – USPS PRIORITY FLAT RATE USA Canada* Worldwide* SMALL Flat Rate Box - Priority
8-1/2\" x 5\" x 1.5\"
21cm x 12cm x 3.5cm
(About the size of an old VHS/Betamax tape) $7.15 C$32
($24.95usd) 32euro
($34.95usd) SMALL/MEDIUM Priority Box
7\" x 7\" x 6\"
17cm x 17cm x 15cm
(Domestic & Intl. 2#/1kg limit)
(About the size you could ship a tea cup in) $10.88 C$54
($41.55usd) 53euro
($58usd) MEDIUM Flat Rate Box -Priority
5\" x 8\" x 11\"
12cm x 20cm x 27cm
(International 10#/4.5kg Limit)
(About the size of a child’s shoe box) $13.60 C$60
($45.95usd) 70euro
($75.95usd) LARGE Flat Rate Box - Priority
5\"x 12\" x 12\"
13cm x 30cm x 30cm
(International 20#/9kg limit)
(About the size of 10 dinner plates stacked up)
(50% Larger than a Medium) $18.85 C$78
($59.95usd) 88euro
($95.95usd)  
NEW POSTAL RATES AS OF 01-17-2017  These are guidelines.
*Canada ($1usd = +/- 1.34cad)
**Worldwide $1usd = +/-1.08 euros ( exchange rates change hourly)

Priority International - takes 21-30 days on average.
First class -                  takes 60-90 days at least, sometimes longer.

NEW INTERNATIONAL USPS First Class Rates – First class (not a true or good name) takes 60 to 90 DAYS to get to you, MINIMUM.  I do not care what says, They are WRONG.  This is a new service from the US post office USPS and a real bad idea.  Yes it takes 60 – 90 days!!!  No there is nothing I can do to speed that up.  IF you want faster delivery, please chose USPS Priority shipping.  However if you insist on the lowest price, we reluctantly offer it…  IF YOU chose this First Class service, I do not want any emails asking, “where is my package.”  Sorry to sound like a grump, but you need the truth to make an informed decision. NEW International First Class Service USPS rates Size CANADA     shipping* INTERNATIONAL shipping in EUROS** SMALL Envelope/Box 1 to 7 ounces
28 to 199 grams 12cad
($9.50usd) 13euros
($13.50usd) MEDIUM Box 8 ounces to 2 pounds
200 to 1000grams 20cad
($15.50usd) 21euros
($22.50usd) LARGE Box 2 pounds to 3 pounds
1000 to 1360grams 33cad
($24.50usd) 32euros
($35.40usd) LARGEST Box ALLOWED 3 pounds to 4 pounds
1361 to 1800grams 49cad
($36.50usd) 53euros
($57.25usd) *Anything larger than 4 pounds or 1800 grams total weight, has to ship Priority Mail.  Box and packing add at least 50% to item weight.  So 2.5# or 1200 gram weight for the specimen.
 
If you want combined shipping PLEASE email us,
BEFORE PAYING.
FLAT Rate International shipping - There are over 200 countries in the world.  The USPS has a different rate for each country.  So for a $10 item, we would have to do 200 different shipping entries for each item, which is ridiculous.  It would take us 2 days just to calculate shipping on one $10 item. 


Luckily the USPS has PRIORITY Flat Rate Shipping Boxes.  Motto - \"IF it fits, it ships.\" Great for shipping heavy rocks around the world.  Sizes and prices are in the chart above.  Yes I know that it may seem high sometimes, however we have to assume that it goes to the most expensive country.  And more importantly in the Flat Rate Box.   You may go to USPS and verify these prices.  That is what they charge....  We make no money on shipping, in fact it cost us money sometimes....

EXACT International Shipping to your country - We will be more than happy to give you an \"actual\" shipping price for the exact item to your country.  Just email us thru .  Remember to include MY 4 or 6 digit item number in the title.  \"And the country you live in\".  does not tell us, where you live.  We will be happy to give you the actual shipping.  So you may make an \"informed decision\" before buying.  We would like to save you some money.  We don\'t want you to pay anymore than you have to....

It is usually cheaper in the Flat Rate Box, but not always.  The USPS charges by size AND weight in regular boxes.  So light items and smaller items can save you money sometimes.  Why not simply ask?
International shipping Customs – shipping can take 21 to 30 days MINIMUM with USPS Priority. New First Class International takes 60 – 90 days.   Your country\'s customs can keep and inspect packages as long as they darn well like.  And they do sometimes.  We CANNOT do anything about that. 

Canadian customers - we no longer ship United Parcel Service - UPS.  Yes initially UPS is slightly cheaper, however we have had terrible problems with UPS making customers get a customs broker.  This has cost the customer over $100 extra.  On two other occasions they have sent back packages, because the address was street instead of drive (the customer inputs the address, not us).   So we no longer will ship UPS.  For some reason the US postal service does not do all this.

Combined shipping - You can save quite a bit by buying several items and shipping them together (in a flat rate box).  So send us a list.  We will give you our best price AND the actual shipping. 
 
MULTIPLE ITEMS – We can save you a lot of money on shipping by starting you a box.  requires that we ship within 24 hours after you pay.  However we can start you a flat rate box, as long as you don’t pay.  does not get the idea that you want to save money on shipping. So what we do is send you a ‘special invoice’ with your first item.  I charge you the full shipping amount and mark it “local pickup”, just to get off our backs.  I know you will not be crossing the ocean to pick it up.  This will bypass ’s stupid rules.  With over 16,000 transactions and over 5,000 positive response, I am not a jerk.  Just trying to save you money on shipping multiple items in one box.
 
Tracking- go to USPS d o t  c o m.  Insert the tracking number in the top left of the website.  This will show you every stop your box makes.  Some English speaking countries continue the tracking in your country, some do not.  That is up to your country, NOT the USPS or myself.  You MAY be able to use ‘the tracking number’ to track it in your countries postal website.  However many countries, do not offer this service.

Your address - Please, Please make sure that your address is correct in paypal and in .  They are two separate companies now.  We have no idea of where you live.  Nor of your address.  We now have 8 returned international shipments for wrong addresses: France (though he put Belgium in the address.  He should know what country he lives in.), 2 for Spain, Italy, UK, another France, Singapore and Dubai.  These all were returned by the home country post office, not USPS.  Some come back in 45 days.  One took 2 years, not kidding.  So we cannot refund any money until we get the item back.  We do not have any control over your local post office and your customs.  Your customs office can hold your package as long as they darn well please.  In addition, if we send it back out, you will have to pay the postage again....
So PLEASE make sure your address is Correct.

Room in the box - For simplicity sake we have gone to 4 box sizes.  You need to add a minimum 1\" (2.5cm) to EACH side of ALL minerals for bubblewrap.    1\"inch bubblewrap top, 1\" bubblewrap bottom, and 1\" on each side.  So a 2\"x2\"x2\" mineral becomes 4\"x4\"x4\" with bubblewrap.
Insurance - Above prices include Insurance with the shipping price.  And may be added to the above standard shipping price depending upon how fragile and/or expensive items.
Parcel post - US customers, we no longer ship parcel post. It saves a few pennies sometimes, however it now takes 8 to 10 days to get your shipment- Which is too long for most customers to wait.
Combined shipping -  If you want combined shipping PLEASE email us.  WE have no way of knowing when you are finished offerding.  sends automatic invoices.  will charge the maximum shipping PER item, if I do not override the invoice.  So offer all you like, but let us know \"You want combined shipping.\"  And we will send you a combined invoice, the next day to pay.
 If you want combined shipping PLEASE email us

NEW Photograph information- In an effort to have more accurate photos, we started photographing in a indoor \"photo studio cube\" with a white background, as of June.
Advantages -
-Better detail of crystals.
-More consistent photos.
-Weather - It is sometimes 5 degrees (-17 Celsius) in Texas.  Sometimes 110 degree (43 Celsius).  Both make it unpleasant to photograph outside under natural daylight.
-No clouds distorting picture color...
-Hard to photograph in the rain too.
Disadvantages -
-Never wear a pink shirt.  My daughter found out the hard way, camera picks up the reflection of your clothing, sometimes on one half of the ammonite.  Sometimes the other.  Depending where you stand...
-Tends to show translucence more than the actual ammonite.  (you can back light it if you like the effect.)  This occurs on thin yellow areas sometimes.
-Browns look a little more red.  Depending on how we edit.  We do try to catch this and fix the color properly.
We are working on this, and it is a work in progress.

Keep in mind different monitors display colors differently.  We edit with item \"in our hand\", so we can get as close to the correct color as possible.  However when we move the very same laptop from living room to office, sometimes the colors look slightly different, even on the same computer.  Your color monitor WILL VARY.  IF you don\'t like the item just send it back.  No problem.  We have a “14 day unconditional return policy\". We have three computers and the colors on all three look a little different.  We shot for the middle ground.”
 
If you don\'t believe me, go take a look at a color television display, have you seen the variation in color in the store.....same broadcast.....totally different color in the store.  And a $1000 TV has better color rendition than a inexpensive or old $75 computer monitor...
 
Returns -  We try to be fair.  Case in point - One return -was because it did not match her drapes – not kidding.  So in that case, she paid both shipping fees.   We don’t guarantee to match drapes. 
Rarely we shipped the wrong item (less than 1 per year), which should NEVER ever happen since we are supposed to match the item number AND match the picture before shipping.  But say we sent the wrong item, we pay both shipping to and from the customer.  IF we miss measured by more than 10%, we pay both shipping fees.  Most of the time, and we rarely get returns, we pay one way, the customer the other.  IF we made a mistake, we will only pay the original amount of shipping on the listing OR the actual shipping whichever is lower.  IF someone wishs to add other fees that would be at their expense.
 
OFFERS – On items over $100, we do accept offers.  Just email us here thru .  Keep in mind sale prices and fossils are already low margin items.  When they are on sale there is nut much margin left.  As we say in Texas, “there is not much meat left on the bone.”  I will look at all reasonable offers.

Stands -IF shown for display only and are NOT included in the sale. 

Repairs - All fossils have some repairs. Being buried under tons of rubble tends to be rough.  None comes out of the ground perfect and whole.  Almost all fossils have repairs.  One of the reasons I photograph the back is so that you can see the repair work that has been done.  Generally you can not tell from the front that an ammonite/fossil has been repaired.

Almost all of the fossils you see in a musuem have had some type of repair work done.  Only tiny fossils have minimal repair work on them.  The folks in Madagascar do a very professional job, however occasionally natural cracks are visible on the surface.  This is part of the natural beauty of the fossil and not considered a defect.  Simply hit \'supersize\' on the picture to get a bigger view. 

Photography - Ammonites, especially the opalized ones are not easy to photograph.  I photograph outside in full sun for true color rendition.  Occasionally clouds come over that make the color less than it really is.  On rare occasions I supplement with a flash to highlight details.   Lighting ammonites correctly will bring out their best color.  Halogen works the best.  The hand or finger in the photo is to give you a comparision of size.  We realize it is hard to tell the size of an ammonite by the picture alone.  Keep in mind different monitors display colors differently.  We edit with ammonite next to us, so we can get as close to the correct color as possible.  However when we move the very same laptop from living room to office sometimes the colors look slightly different even on the same computer.  The dime is for comparision .70\" or 7/10 of an inch or 18mm.

Measurements - All ammonites are measured from the tip to across.  This is the industry standard.  Then we measure across. 

 

Please email BEFORE paying if you want

combined shipping.

It takes lots of paperwork to do a refund.

 

Shipping to Russia Federation and former Soviet Union states - Unfortunately the US Post office now makes us take all packages to former USSR TO the post office. (How they can see thru the box to see if it is dangerous I don\'t know?) Why Russia.... I do not know? However I can no longer pay my daughter $20 to go the post office, stand in a long line, to ship your $15 item. We just don\'t have the time. IF you want to buy $200usd or more we will do it. Just email us thru with a list. This is why a lot of sellers are no longer shipping to the former USSR. We will allow purchases when the US post office changes their policy.

EMAILS - PLEASE email us here thru .

Notes in Paypal and Request Total - Paypal and combined shipping unfortunately have a \'notes\' section. However WE DO NOT see the notes!!! Please do not use them. We have to click on each paypal transaction to see the note, and with 40 transactions some days there is no way. Also we only go to paypal once a week to move money to the bank. So that is why sellers do not respond to notes left there.

Same for \'combined shipping\'- ONLY sends us a icon on our payment page saying you want combined shipping. However does NOT send us your note, we have to go to our personal email address and open each one, to see IF maybe someone sent a note. We never even know you sent a note.

PLEASE just email us here!!!

Conclusion - Fossils, and ammonites in particular, at one time were only found in museums. And cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. Today YOU can own a piece of the fossil record. An animal that lived over 100 million years ago.

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