Aloha,

I posted the address to some painted valentia on ebay last week.  This
week I see instead of the shells getting pulled, their evil cousins came
out. All my favorite candidates for painting are up this week.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZpatricianashellsQQhtZ-1

I know that these guys have been told time and time again that their
shells are fake.  The only conclusion I'm left with is they are pure
crooks.  Most of us on here can spot this stuff, but some collectors
can't.  It's important to talk about it on the forum.  A few months back I
met a collector selling off all off some of his cypraea.  I emailed him
inquiring where the shells had for sale had originally come from.  Turns
out many shells in his collection were from a notorious distributor of
fake and painted shells.  Let's just say they weren't just "gem",they were
Diamonds.  He was insistent that none could be fakes, but I used sources
like past conch-l postings to educate him.  After a while he was able to
identify many fakes in his collection and confronted the dealer.  He wound
up getting some compensation, but more importantly, a good education.

Good Shelling,
Shea O’Neill
Honolulu, HI

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------