Good call John BUT there are a few other indicators, such as the shell is
not the proper shape as the golden , the shell will have uniform color not
subtle shading like the real one , and the shell will also have a faded look
.
 Now how to fake and bake , heat in peanut oil , it will keep that cracking
down that's caused when the inside of the cowrie is cooler then the outside
and this causes fine cracks . but remeber , mark all shells as "baked" or
"faked " as to be fair to the buyer .
-----Original Message-----
From: shelloak <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, November 25, 1999 1:29 PM
Subject: Re: Baking cowries


>They have crase marks from the heat.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jiongtao HUANG <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Thursday, November 25, 1999 7:32 AM
>Subject: Baking cowries
>
>
>>Hi, everyone.
>>
>>Recently, some "Great Golden Cowries" come to the shell market in Japan.
>>But in Dr.Lorenz's cowrie book, some black cowries such as Cypraea onyx
>etc.
>>can become "golden color form" by baking. But Dr.Lorenz did not explain
how
>>can we separate a "golden shell" or "color variation" is a baking one or
>>natural one.
>>Could anyone of you tell me how can we separate a baking shell from
natural
>>one? or testing method?
>>Thank you very much advance.
>>
>>Jiongtao
>>http://www.soft.ics.keio.ac.jp/~huang/
>>
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>