Coin collectors talking about fossils and rocks

[hasfam]

I think we should change the title of this thread

[simonm]

I think we should change the title of this thread

Done. I had no idea that so many other members were also interested in fossils!

[hasfam]

I was just trying to be humorous Simon, I wasn't serious. I've enjoyed the thread.
I feel like I'm a fossil sometimes.
Nice collections everyone.

[simonm]

I was just trying to be humorous Simon, I wasn't serious. I've enjoyed the thread.
I feel like I'm a fossil sometimes.
Nice collections everyone.

I gotcha Rock. I knew you were joking, but the title should have been changed anyway to reflect the content. The thread took an unintended turn, although that is fine. I'm glad that people took interest in the fossils, not only the coins.

[DCW]

Ive had a lot of good times with the kids collecting fossils here in NJ. Mostly shark teeth with other marine vertebrate. Funny how we gravitate towards history/prehistory as collectors. Id be willing to bet there are a lot history buffs among us as well.

[Jacob]

Ill admit it I like coins more than fossils but any day I can hit a nice fossil bed Im all for it. Im a member on a fossil forum and a few people traveled to meet me and we dug up some Devonian period specimens (plants). I found a spot near Bennezette PA where the Elk are that had some nice Devonian period fossils so they wanted to come up and dig with me. I was glad to share my spot with them and they all had fun and no one went home empty handed. I spend alot of time in the woods so am pretty firmiliar of the different rock formations around my area. Never tried panning for gold yet but that is on my to do list for there are a few streams near me that has gold in them.

[flyhi3]

WOW that is cool Simon! How do you determine if it is a meteorite? I live in West Pa, in an area that used to be under an ocean. At the edge of the field where the woods starts, there are lots of big fossil rocks, including one that is about 2 1/2' by 3' at least... It is LOADED with fossils! I have got a few neat ones, including one real nice shell.....

[simonm]

WOW that is cool Simon! How do you determine if it is a meteorite?

I took it to a guy who has owned a rock shop way off the beaten path for 30 years. He sells meteorites, gems, fossils, you name it. He could fill up the Smithsonian with the quality and quantity of his items, I am not at all exaggerating. Anyway, I was looking for meteorites on dry lake beds (a good place to find them) and found an odd-shaped rock that was darker than the other rocks and had a "sheen" to it, which are some telltale signs of a meteorite, but nothing that would confirm/deny it. I took it to the guy at the aforementioned shop. He took out a loupe, looked at it, and said he was almost positive it was a meteorite, and would be surprised if it wasn't. I took it as a yes.

Here is a picture of all the meteorites currently in my collection.

[flyhi3]

That is so cool! They are detected by a metal detector in most cases, correct?

WOW awesome collection! I have been wanting one, but I am not sure were to look...

[simonm]

Alex, for meteorites, half the time you only need a magnet and a stick, and if the rock is strongly attached to a magnet, there is a chance it is a meteorite. But there are plenty of terrestrial rocks that are also magnetic, so it can throw you off. I don't own a metal detector.

Just adding a few more photos from a small part of my collection. Here is a dinosaur bone fragment given to me by a paleontologist when I went on a dig in Colorado.

The second photo is just kind of a conglomerate of fossils I excavated at a beach in Santa Cruz.