Fossil Hunter Finds Pearls

by Mitch H
(P.C. Fla.)

I found three pearls & shells looking for fossils.



Read about the world's largest fossil pearl.

Here is an excerpt about the large fossil pearl in Natural History museum in Vienna:

The fossil pearl was found in the 1970ies by a collector at Stetten – a small village close to Vienna in Austria. It formed during the Miocene epoch within the giant mussel Perna aquitanica. Its growth was triggered by the drilling action of a Gastrochaena bivalve which penetrated the mussel-shell. Thus, the pearl is a blister pearl which was still in situ. The paleo-environment, some 16.5 million years ago, was a tropical estuary with swamp forests, scattered mangroves and extended oyster reefs along the muddy shores. Even these oysters have been giants at that time, reaching up to 100 cm in length! Surprisingly, these oysters, which grew in enormous masses, did not produce pearls in noteworthy amounts. A singly tiny blister-pearl was found in one of the oysters during an excavation campaign of the Natural History Museum Vienna in 2008. In contrast, the mussel Perna was prone to pearl formation and small pearls have been detected several times in the surrounding sediment.

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Sep 07, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		found fossil mother pearl
by: richard

i have found a broken fossil mother pearl in the side of the mountain
Jul 05, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks
by: Kari

Mitch, thanks for sharing. We love hearing about fossil pearls as they are rare and not much is known about them. Let me know if you ever want to add more photos.
Jun 28, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		fossil pearl
by: mitch h

I found one more fossil pearl it looks like a conch pearl. I thout it was just a shell and put it with other shells and shark teeth but i realy think it is a pearl.
Apr 13, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		white pearl was damage
by: mitch h

when i found it was bigger before so i peeled it so you can see in the picture.

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