I have also seen a couple of fakes here in Australia and I recognised them
also because they were so badly faked, I imagine that there are these fakes
in the more touristy shops worldwide, but most of these shops aren't really
visited by very many "serious shell collectors" are they?
 
----------
> From: Ellen Bulger <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: FAKES
> Date: Sunday, 14 June 1998 0:19
>
> Coincidentally, what with all this talk of Xenophora, I found one in a
shell
> shop that had all sorts of interesting objects affixed at extremely
unlikely
> angles; big chunks of finger coral, frog shells and large bivalves. These
had
> been applied to the shell, um, post mortem. The cement was clear and
shiny,
> probably Krazy Glue. There were also some small gastropods that the snail
had
> genuinely attached to itself. What impressed me about this fake was not
how
> good it was, but how bad, how blatant. If it had been a halfway decent
fake, I
> would never have spotted it, being a beginner and all.