Spent $85 on a 'rare' thunder egg that turned out to be a painted river rock

I bought this thing at a gem show in Phoenix last month. The seller swore it was a genuine Oregon thunder egg with a perfect agate center. He said it was a steal at $85. I got it home, cracked it open with my rock saw, and found nothing but solid, plain basalt inside. The outside was just spray-painted to look like the rhyolite crust. I felt like a total fool. That money could have gone toward a real field guide or even gas for a proper rockhounding trip. It's a harsh lesson in trusting a flashy label over basic geology knowledge. Has anyone else been burned by a fake mineral or fossil sale?

3 comments

3 Comments

harperg761mo agoProlific Poster

Man that sucks. I almost bought a "desert rose" selenite last year that was just carved gypsum with brown shoe polish rubbed in the cracks. Some of these sellers are just con artists preying on people who don't know the details.

riley431mo ago

Oh jeez, that's rough. But actually, real desert rose selenite is already gypsum anyway. It's not like some fake material pretending to be something else. Desert roses are just those rosette-shaped gypsum clusters that form in sandy conditions. The real scam is when people take plain gypsum, carve fake rosettes into it, and rub shoe polish in the cracks to make it look like the real sandy formation. I've seen that trick at flea markets where they charge $40 for something worth maybe $5.

clairen851mo ago

It's wild how that kind of shady practice shows up everywhere once you start looking. Like, I've seen people selling "vintage" furniture that's just ikea stuff with a heavy coat of stain and a different set of knobs. Or the "farm fresh" eggs at the farmer's market that are clearly just repackaged grocery store eggs for double the price. It's like some folks think if they just add a little grime or a fancy story, they can trick anyone into paying way too much. Really makes you second-guess everything you buy until you know exactly what to look for.