Integrity and Authenticity
Fossil Realm Standard
The specimen should remain more important than the claims made around it.
Authenticity is not established by a certificate alone. It is supported by accurate identification, clear condition disclosure, appropriate provenance research and documentation that allows the buyer to understand what is being acquired.
Every specimen offered or placed by Fossil Realm is represented according to the evidence available. Where a point cannot be resolved confidently, that limitation should be stated rather than obscured.
Preparation and Intervention
The object should remain legible as itself.
Preparation is often essential to the preservation of a fossil. Material may require stabilisation, consolidation, repair or selective reconstruction before it can be safely handled, studied or displayed. Good preparation can also reveal anatomy that would otherwise remain obscured.
The central question is not simply whether intervention exists, but how it was performed and how clearly it has been described. Known repair, restoration, reconstruction or compositing is disclosed to the extent that it can reasonably be determined from the specimen and its records.
Intervention should support stability and legibility without disguising material facts or creating a misleading impression of originality, completeness or association.
The Review
Three questions guide the assessment.
What is it, and how secure is the attribution?
Taxonomy, locality, geological age and association are described according to the available evidence. Outside expertise may be sought where identification is unusually difficult or consequential.
What is original, repaired or reconstructed?
Where relevant, original material is distinguished from restoration, reconstruction, cast components and compositing. The location and nature of intervention can matter more than a single overall percentage.
Can its history and lawful movement be supported?
Available collection, ownership, export and import records are considered in relation to the specimen and the jurisdictions involved. Questions are investigated rather than quietly set aside.
Documentation
Proportionate to the acquisition.
Every specimen acquired from Fossil Realm is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity identifying the object and recording the representation made at the time of sale.
Condition reports and further supporting records are available upon request, with the level of detail proportionate to the specimen, the complexity of the transaction and the evidence available. Significant or technically complex acquisitions may involve a more extensive documentation package.
- Condition and restoration summaries
- Provenance and ownership records
- Export, import or collection documents
- Bone maps or osteographs
- Preparation and conservation information
- Mounting, display or installation notes
Not every specimen calls for every form of documentation. A certificate is one component of the record—not a substitute for the underlying evidence on which the representation depends.
Professional Affiliations
Participation in specialist communities.
Fossil Realm is a member of the Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences and the International Meteorite Collectors Association, IMCA No. 4875.
These affiliations connect the practice with specialist communities concerned with lawful collecting, accurate representation and responsible commerce. Membership supports—but does not replace—the case-by-case assessment of each specimen and transaction.
Collector Resources