Some of the more significant factors include the size of the megalodon tooth, the condition, color, and location it was found. Both questions are valid and in this article I will try to explain some of the things that “Make Megalodon Teeth So Expensive” in a future article I will write about “Why Megalodon Teeth Are So Cheap” but that is best saved for a different article. Difficulty of recovery can also play a part in value, some areas of the world shark teeth are easier to find. Some areas they can be found simply by walking in fields after rain or walking through shallow creeks, others have to be recovered using specialized equipment, scuba diving, or other costly or dangerous recovery method.
The phosphate mines in Morocco, specifically the Khouribga region are rich with fossil shark teeth. The heavy mining equipment exposes them and because much of the surrounding area is experiencing economic hardship the fossil teeth are gathered in vast quantities to be sold in the US, Europe, and other countries who have citizens with disposable income.Â
Shouldn’t it be more expensive?
Wider, larger, heavier teeth are more valuable. Repair refers to gluing a broken tooth back together to make it whole again. Species For instance a tooth with significant enamel issues can be repaired so it looks almost perfect. A tooth could have a broken root or tip and be repaired back to what the restorer assumes the tooth would have looked like. Chipping – Are there chips out of the edge of the blade? It’s common for larger teeth to have significant amounts of peeled enamel. Unique Coloration - Sometimes a tooth will have a unique coloration for the site it was found and these teeth will command premiums. Pathologies or deformations that happened while the shark was alive can make a tooth for valuable. There are collectors that specialize in collecting Megalodon teeth with pathologies. 15% Off Amethyst & Madgascar Ammonites This Week. Bourrelet – The bourrelet is a thin band of enamel between the blade and the root. How much is a megalodon tooth worth? The Megalodon or "Big Tooth" is a prehistoric shark that lived a few million years ago and it was known as one of the most ferocious and dangerous water creatures. Are fossil shark teeth expensive? How sharp or worn are they? To find megalodon teeth on a regular basis you often need to access places that require a lot of equipment, training, and experience. All of those things cost money but the easiest to understand is the equipment required. People also gravitate towards larger megalodon and other fossil shark teeth not just because of their rarity but because of the stark contrast with modern teeth. Any fossil shark tooth that is over 3" represents an animal that is far bigger than any shark swimming in the oceans today. The overall condition of the tooth has a big impact on pricing. There are far more small shark teeth than large shark teeth. All sharks, not matter what the species started out small, some of them made it to adolescence, some did not, some made it to adulthood and even more did not, what percentage of the population made it to the maximum size possible we don't know for sure. But think of it this way, if humans continued to grow past puberty and just kept getting bigger the older they got by age 100 they might be 20' tall. But what percentage of the population lives to be 100? Also consider that humans have an extremely low mortality rate. Consider the same example with American Alligators who have a moderately high mortality rate, it is very common to see young and juvenile alligators under 5', as they get larger they become fewer in number, large alligators over 10' are considered uncommon and very large alligators over 12' in size are considered rare. However; there have been gators caught over 15' in length but are considered extremely rare. So considering that the megalodon shark would have had a fairly high mortality rate considering how violent the ancient seas were based on the fossil record one could conclude that there were many megalodons under 20' but megalodons over 40 feet would be uncommon, and megalodons over 50' would be very rare. Not only were there far more small megalodons than big ones but the big ones lost their teeth throughout their entire life, producing only the large teeth that are now so coveted towards the end of their lives. All other factors being equal the larger the tooth the more it is worth. Condition In general teeth from the river and ocean deposits in the Carolinas are the least expensive while teeth from land sites such as Bakersfield are much more rare. There are many factors that go into the value of a megalodon tooth. Why are some megalodon teeth worth more than others? Only a handful have EVER been found and if one did come up for sale the price would run into the tens of thousands of dollars. A “perfect” tooth (does perfect really exist?) A question I get all the time is "how much is this megalodon tooth worth?"
Fossils are all unique, so of course pricing is a little subjective but there are many factors that go into putting a price on a Megalodon tooth. Some locations are difficult or impossible to get to, teeth that have previously been collected from these locations can command a higher price as the location may become closed or inaccessible for shark tooth hunters for some time, or forever. I believe that each tooth out there lies somewhere in between those two valuations and the tooth is worth one person is willing to sell it for and another is willing to buy it for. The final reason that megalodon teeth can be expensive is they often go through a multi level supply chain. In an upcoming article I will describe how the average megalodon tooth gets to an end customer but each time it changes hands that party needs to make a profit, the more levels the higher price the end consumer pays. Most teeth are purchased from the person who recovered it and resold at least once, in some cases four to five times, this can add a significant expense and make the megalodon tooth much more expensive for the final owner. I always use digital calipers to get measurements to the 1/100th of an inch as small changes in tooth size can have a big impact in price with large teeth. A 5 inch Megalodon tooth with part of the root restored might be ½ or 1/3 the cost of one with no restoration. In Conclusion The colors of shark teeth we find todaywere imparted on the tooth via different mineral compositions during the fossilization process. The mineral composition of the ocean bottom the shark tooth landed in and remained in throughout it's existence determined the color of the tooth and if it was fossilized or simply decomposed. The condition of a megalodon tooth or other fossilized shark tooth is key in determining valuation. If the tooth has serrations present, good enamel, and intact root it will fetch a higher price than an identical tooth that was broken in half and heavily tumbled in the water.
Location Besides rarity color can make some teeth more attractive than others, some of this is personal preference but some colors have more general appeal than others. I have gotten several times lately from customers wondering about the pricing on Megalodon teeth. Teeth get progressively more rare as size increases, so the price also increases. The remaining megalodon teeth that are able to be recovered are for the most part in areas that are difficult to access. Deep under the earth or water, the days of finding many megalodons along the beach or banks of a river are gone, so people like myself venture further and deeper in hopes of recovering some megalodon teeth. The reason that there are still megalodon teeth in some of the dark water rivers I dive in is simply because no one wants to go in the water there. Depth, current, lack of visibility, inhospitable wildlife, etc all do their part in keeping people out of those waters. In my articles "Really How Dark Is It Down There?"
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