Scott E Jordan wrote:
>
> I bought a bunch of terrific shells super cheap in Phuket, Thailand.
> Amongst them is a nice Cypraea sakuraii which under maginfication
> looks very dubious and I think is a fake.  It sure is a great fake,
> much better than anything that I have seen before.  I also bought a
> Cypraea hirasei which under close examination looks perfectly real,
> but I am understandably a bit uncertain.  Any suggestions as to how to
> verify if a Cypraea is real?  You dealers must have seen this sort of
> thing before; let me tell you, this phony C. sakuraii  looks like the
> real thing (it is worth what I paid for it just as a fake)!
>
> Scott Jordan
Hello!
 
Hi Scott and all,
 
This is a rehash of a past thread which seems to be very much alive,
wiggling and growing.
 
As in past answers (Please forget bleeding heart hazardous materials
safety comments, we are not drinking the stuff) a simple way of
detecting palsticized, epoxyized or otherwise doctored shells is to
dab/rub a q-tip saturated in Trichloroethylene or better yet Methyl
Ethyl Ketone, otherwise known as MEK, on the suspect area of the shell.
These solvents will dissolve just about anything. Of course some of the
new dental materials used by the "Doctors of Shells" may not be affected
by the solvents.
 
So carry a small bottle of the stuff and rub away in front of the
dealer. Maybe just the threat of a "rub" will force him to retract the
offer or shell. Well maybe. Some are pretty thick skinned, MG for one.
 
Later,
 
Emilio Jorge Power