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 Collecting amber
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| crex |
Posted on 20-09-2006 12:30
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 Member Location: Sweden Posts: 1996 Joined: 22.05.06 |
I think it is quite fascinating with amber inclusions and I'm thinking of maybe start a small collection. Are there anyone that can give some clues as to what is normal pricing, if there is any, on (baltic) amber? Where do I find (buy) it? Is it high risk of getting fake amber? What kinds of insects are one likely to find (I'm guessing ones that live on tree trunks ...)? I also guess large inclusions are most expensive, but are there (m)any small insect inclusions not easily seen with bare eye (without magnification)? Any tips on collecting amber is appreciated. TIA!
Edited by crex on 20-09-2006 16:24 |
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| Paul Beuk |
Posted on 20-09-2006 14:21
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 Super Administrator Location: Netherlands Posts: 19363 Joined: 11.05.04 |
Price depends very much on the combination of quality (both the enclosed specimen and the way the piece is prepared), enclosed species and their size and the origin of the amber (Dominican amber and Baltic amber realtively cheap, Burmese, Lebanese, Bitterfeld and North American more expensive. You can find them priced between a few cents (auction sites, but chances are remote you will be able to get them for the starting price then) and even hundreds of dollars/euros. Some taxa are rare in amber and these, as a rule, will be more expensive, likewise with specimens in copula, etc. I have seen little about fake amber. You should also be careful to distinguish between amber (older) and copal (more recent, for example from Madagascar and Colombia). The former usually is more expensive for comparable specimens. You will get many kinds of bark insects in amber, but certainly not exclusively. There are many kinds of insects belonging to aereal plakton (meaning: moving with the major air streams and these can end up in amber with high frequency, like Chironomidae) or predatory insects that may hunt for insects that were trapped in the resin even though they were not specifically living on bark. The smallest enclosures will be mites and these may be difficult to distinguish. Some of the smaller insects may easily be confused with contamination of the amber (leave fragments, insect droppings, moss, etc.). The larger ones will be quite clear. The fauna in the different kinds of amber is different, partly because of the habitat where the amber originated and partly because of the age. I have a reasonable collection myself and generally the best quality is the (youngest) Dominican amber and that has a higher variety of species. Baltic amber often has some mouldy coverings on specimens which may obscure details and the variation of groups that occur in numbers is smaller but variation within the groups may be higher. The most interesting amber I have is the Burmese amber. Often it is rather dark and needs a trained eye to discern details of the specimens, but because of the age the insects present are usually very interesting. When you want to buy amber: look on the auction sites on the internet and search for amber shops using search engines. Sometimes it is possible to buy some pieces in bulk. When starting a collection this is a relative easy way to build up something. Good shopping on auctions takes time and, for interesting specimens, luck and/or a good amount of cash. Paul - - - - Paul Beuk on https://diptera.info |
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| crex |
Posted on 20-09-2006 22:15
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Member Location: Sweden Posts: 1996 Joined: 22.05.06 |
Thank you Paul. Mmm, sound like it could be quite expensive. I have to think about if I can't find a cheep place to buy. I wonder if the amber finds that end up in shops and online auctions are considered to have any scientific value? I guess it must be hard to tell where it's from and so forth. Paul, I guess you concentrate on collecting diptera incusions!? Have you done any interesting finds in your amber? |
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| Robert Nash |
Posted on 21-09-2006 10:16
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Member Location: Ulster Museum, Belfast, Ireland Posts: 288 Joined: 11.11.05 |
At least some of the literature is free . Try http://fossilinsects.net/lib.htm Good luck with your amber search thoughperhaps you should consider spending the cash on equipment and polish or otherwise prepare "rough amber". We get quite a lot of jewel amber for ids. of inclusions.This is often very expensive but can't be fully id'd without laboratory equipment and technicians we don't have. I suppose some unprovenanced (no locality) material might bescientifically useful but rarely. Robert |
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