Grading Shells & Shell Dealers
Comments by Ross
Mayhew of Schooner Specimen
Shells
On Grading Shells:
In practice, most dealers from time to time exaggerate the quality of their shells - this is human nature: the trick is to learn which of the dealers you propose to deal with do this habitually (no fingers pointed, but if a list comes your way with 90% of the shells rated GEM, this is highly suspicious!!), and which do it simply by accident or irregularly.
In my experience, "GEM" shells, except for a few species of cowries
and a few cones that like to live in low-energy environments, are RARE - you
can almost always find something "wrong" ( a subjective concept:
for some, thin growth lines don't count unless there are a lot of them, while
others consider any tiny irregularity to be a "flaw", hence undesirable
in a natural object) on any shell, even without a microscope. WITH a good
10x lens, it is easily seen that there is no such thing as a "flawless"
shell.// F+ is the most commonly used grade, and is a rather subjective, "flexible"
term in practice (nobody likes to outrightly call a shell "F" since
it is the kiss of death for selling it unless you have a good low price on
the thing!!): generally it means a good quality shell - minor repair or other
irregularity or two, such as a couple of little lip chips or a small growth
mark, which do not interfere signifigantly with the natural beauty of the
shell - ie, they are easy to overlook unless one is quite particular. in general,
if a shell is rated F, it is not that pretty, but is good as a study shell,
or as a "starter" or "place-holder" for that species,
while F+ specimens look good in most collections. F++ and Gem- are interchangeable,
and mean "ALMOST" GEM - only the most particular of collectors would
spurn a shell of this quality. F+++ or worse, is a meaningless designation,
meaning F++/Gem-.
Of course, grading is subjective, except for "GEM" which SHOULD
refer to a shell with NO visible imperfections or irregularities (if it does
not, it is a mistake) - one person's F++ might be another's F+, and some dealers
don't even use the F++/Gem- designation. Let the buyer
be always on their guard!!
On Grading Shell Dealers:
Buying shells isn't like buying most "normal" retail goods, but involves a surprisingly large number of factors such as:
The best way is just to
I would add also,