Is bigger better?

kray · Aug 20, 2018

Hi all,
Last week I returned from Cape Cod, where I saw the movie, "Megalodon" with my two kids, aged seven and nine. My seven-year-old boy loved the movie so I felt compelled to get him a Megalodon tooth for his birthday. Like the idiot I am, I accidentally bought one from Amazon as well as one off of eBay. (The Amazon tooth was cheaper and I neglected to cancel my bid on eBay.)
So right now I have two teeth, one is smaller but guaranteed to have no repair or restoration; the other is bigger but said to be "imperfect." I cannot afford to keep both teeth. My son and I cannot decide which one to keep. I have a feeling that we should keep the smaller, more perfect tooth, but my son prefers the bigger one. What would you guys do?

Shorewalker · Aug 20, 2018

Well, they are both quite large(!). Personally, I'd take the smaller one. It's so much prettier. I'd say that the condition of the smaller one outweighs the size difference. For me, it would be no question.

Megalodon · Sep 22, 2018

Sorry I'm late to the thread. We've been distracted by the birth of our first grandson.

I chuckled at your story because I took my son, now a new father himself, to a rock & gem show and bought him a piece of amber with an insect inclusion before we went to see Jurassic Park. I remember seeing him clutch that piece of amber all through the movie.

The lower tooth is far better and more collectible. If we could have found amber, that would have been my preference to buying. If you ever return to N. VA, there are many locations for collecting Miocene fossils and shark teeth in particular, in the area. Finding his own would almost certainly be a great experience for your son. We are retired and walk along Calvert Cliffs where picking up 100 small teeth in 3 or so hours is common. Some of the ebay sellers walk the same beaches. We tend to prefer to talk to the folks who publish their discoveries and donate their fossils to the Calvert Marine Museum and Smithsonian. If you ever return to the area for a few days, PM me and I can recommend some collecting spots along Calvert Cliffs.

If you do buy another on ebay, note that the perfect ones bring the most $. But teeth with feeding damage are priced lower and have an interesting story because those teeth were chipped when a Meg bit into a prey item.

AeroMike · Oct 2, 2018

As stated above by Megalodon, the smaller tooth is the better one. Also, a tooth is measured on the slant side, so when someone says "I have a 6" tooth" they are measuring from the tip up the side to the end of the root lobe. Measure both sides, the longer one is the measurement of the tooth.

I have 1,000's of teeth and out of all my shark teeth, I would say my most valuable one is not any of my 6" meg's or even my 4.5" Ariculitus tooth, but I would have to say my museum quality beyond rare 2" hemipristis Seirra tooth (snaggle tooth).

When you look to purchase a tooth do your research. eBay or Amazon may not be the best option to buy. There are reputable sellers out there.

Megalodon · Oct 2, 2018

Exactly the way to measure a tooth.

That's a big Hemi. Its a common tooth at Calvert Cliffs and almost always in great condition, but my biggest is 1.75". My son conservatively estimates that he has found at least 70,000 teeth, and his largest Hemi is 1.9". I found 33 Hemi teeth today and the largest was less than 3/4".