Found this fossil in Imperial Beach, San Diego, California.... Anyone know what it is???

[eavila397]

I would like to know what type of species this is? Is it rare? And how much is it worth? I was offered $500 for this already but I turned down the offer. It looks unreal! Email me if you have any info. on it.

[Frederik]

It's a snail operculum. You should have accepted the offer.

[eavila397]

Frederik wrote:
It's a snail operculum. You should have accepted the offer.

Is it worth anything???

[eavila397]

eavila397 wrote:

Frederik wrote:
It's a snail operculum. You should have accepted the offer.

Is it worth anything???

It's about 2inches long & 1 1/4 inch thick. Or about 5cm long & 3cm wide.

[Frederik]

eavila397 schreef:
Is it worth anything???

Since you're not getting an answer from a more knowledgable person... I'm personally not very familiar with extant mollusc shell pricing. However I would not be surprised if this piece turns out to be not very valuable on the market.

But, the market is dictated by supply and demand. Apparently, this was worth 500$ for somebody you met, at that specific moment in time, as you stated in your first message. Quite an astonishing high amount if you'd ask me. And I apologise for being a little bit sceptical. If this amount was actually offered to you, I think you missed a unique window of opportunity there and you should go after this guy asap.
If not, well, read on.

In any case, you won't be able to offer it here. It does not seem to be a fossil and I'm sorry to say that any transaction of recent material is against forum policy.
It was an interesting challenge identifying this specimen.


[Bewerkt door Frederik op 05-09-2012 om 16:16 NL]

[eavila397]

Well I searched & searched online for a snail operculum that looked even a little close to what I have & I didn't find anything close enough. Are you 100% sure that's what it is? I'm not so sure. If you can find a picture of just one that looks a little close to the one I have then I will be sure that it is a snail operculum.

[eavila397]

Thanks.

[Frederik]

Here you go, a similar (not quite identical) operculum:
http://www.starthrower.org/images/stock ... %2003s.jpg