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Photography tricks, lighting, paint concealment, and composite camouflage. How sellers hide damage — and how you spot it.
Active concealment: When a seller deliberately hides damage through photography or physical manipulation, it crosses from poor disclosure into fraud.
Only photographs the 'good side.' Cracks on reverse, fills on underside never shown. Listings should show front, back, top, and bottom.
Blurry or compressed photos hide fine cracks and fill boundaries. Resolution under 1024px makes inspection impossible.
Harsh direct light flattens surface detail. Overhead lighting washes out glue lines. Compare consistency across all photos.
Paint or stain matching surrounding matrix can hide repairs. Color boundaries, different surface texture, or fluorescence may justify specialist examination; no single test is conclusive.
Excess matrix (rock) around fossil hides cracks, repairs, and composite joins. 'Matrix cover' is common concealment.
Wet fossils look darker and more detailed. Cracks temporarily disappear as water fills them. Photos should show specimen dry.
Ruler placed farther back makes fossil look larger. Oversized coin makes damage look smaller. Consistent scale at same plane is essential.
Cracks may be filled with matching material and polished. Magnification, varied lighting, and appropriate imaging can reveal boundaries, but results require interpretation.
Join lines may be carved and textured to match a surface. Fluorescence or density differences can support further examination; they do not identify every adhesive or prove a composite on their own.
— Front, back, sides, underside, scale at the specimen plane, and close-ups of every disclosed repair.
— A written restoration map separating original fossil, matrix, fill, reconstruction, adhesive, and composite parts.
— Dry photographs under diffuse and raking light. Additional imaging should be chosen and interpreted by a qualified specialist.
— The seller and payment provider’s actual inspection, return, and dispute terms before payment.
Jurassic Depot publishes editorial checklists; this page does not promise pre-listing examination, a fixed inspection window, or dispute resolution.