How much is this amber worth? 0.5g

[GemstoneLiker]

I am aware that it's probably around 1$ or less but I wanted to know how much ambers like this one are worth. Like if I had 20 of those, then, for eg. 1$ per piece, 20$ would be something. And do you know an amber price guide, that isn't subscription based?

 

[LilAlex]

Looks interesting. An issue with things that are that inexpensive is that the cost of authentication far exceeds the value of the item. So your audience will always be very limited, whether you have one of these or a thousand, imo. And, as you know, the amber world is full of simulants and reconstituted and adulterated products.

There is also the issue that they are fossils and, as such, are much more a part of our collective heritage than, say, a diamond. I am finally at the life stage where I can buy a gorgeous fossil for the mantel or just to stare at -- but it feels kind of icky to remove it from it's geographic and stratigraphic context and ensure that no one ever can learn anything from it. Maybe that's an extremist view; I know there are still folks identifying new species preserved in amber.

 

[GemstoneLiker]

Looks interesting. An issue with things that are that inexpensive is that the cost of authentication far exceeds the value of the item. So your audience will always be very limited, whether you have one of these or a thousand, imo. And, as you know, the amber world is full of simulants and reconstituted and adulterated products.

There is also the issue that they are fossils and, as such, are much more a part of our collective heritage than, say, a diamond. I am finally at the life stage where I can buy a gorgeous fossil for the mantel or just to stare at -- but it feels kind of icky to remove it from it's geographic and stratigraphic context and ensure that no one ever can learn anything from it. Maybe that's an extremist view; I know there are still folks identifying new species preserved in amber.

Thanks for your reply!
Why the cost of authentication far exceeds the value of the item? Wasn't this salty water, UV light and acetone testing? Or are there other methods? And is it hard to identify an amber that isn't 100% natural?
As for the ,,remove it from it's geograpgic and stratigraphic context and ensure that no one ever can learn anything from it" wdym? If you buy an amber, then you probably don't want to cut the inclusion inside, so what would the scientists learn from, just the resin? If so, there are tons of amber. But that's just my opinion. If what you meant is that we shouldn't wear those inclusions, but give them to scientists, then, well, I don't think that scientists are looking up EVERY inclusion on earth, so if you wear one, these is a very high chance that no one would do any research on it if you wouldn't wear it.

 

[LilAlex]

Why the cost of authentication far exceeds the value of the item? Wasn't this salty water, UV light and acetone testing? Or are there other methods? And is it hard to identify an amber that isn't 100% natural?

I can't speak for everyone but I would not buy it with this in the Bay description!

I do not know how one identifies amber as natural and untreated. I would only trust a reputable lab. That's were the money comes in and I am guessing it will exceed one dollar.

About fossils, we each have our own ethical frameworks. I would not pose Sue in the lobby of my hedge fund office and I would not buy a "museum-quality" fossil but I might buy a folding knife with mammoth-tusk scales or wear a piece of amber. I did not mean to suggest that all amber should be off-limits to consumers. With a local guide, we collected a sack full of fossils in an ancient lake bed in Morocco and nobody including customs could have cared less. So I'm a bit of a hypocrite and my reasoning was similar to yours -- there were millions of fossils there all of the same era and maybe a handful of species to my inexpert eye, and to the extent that you had to hopscotch if you really did not want to step on any. The lake bed stretched for miles and there was not a soul there except us.