Recycled Glass?

In July of 2005 Jeff Kuyken noticed unusual 'moldavite' (pdf file) being auctioned on ebay. Alerted by Jeff's suspicion, several people in the meteorite community agree that caution is warranted.

Norm Lehrman explained "I have been sent some identical material from a source (? the same ??) in Hong Kong for examination. What I saw, which was virtually identical to this, is melted bottle glass."

Tokyo researcher Dirk Ross reports, "I study glasses as you may know (especially ancient and modern Chinese glasses). The glass is from beer bottles made in Shandong, China. A new technique being used is to mold Moldavites from casts of real Moldavites."

Mark Bostick suggests, "I have gotten many tektites from this guy. All Indochinites and all real. 4-5 over 250g., and a few dozen ~200g. He seems to be pretty good and coming up with some big ones. Having said that I would be cautious with the moldavite, as it looks funny. One he sold the other day, looked funny as well. Ask the seller if he would take a return if you are not happy, seems to be a good guy so I imagine he would."

"While I am extremely dissappointed to hear this, I was warned by my Czechoslovakian supplier that fake Moldivite was now in production - about 2 years ago, which is about the time I stopped carrying it" wrote Michael Blood. "The price had escalated due to, according to my source, again, the drying up of centuries old fields and the building over of others. This fake material is a distressing situation and will, combined with the sharp decline in new material, in the long run, make the "old" material all that more valuable. However, the counterfeit material will, in the short run, bring all material into question."

UPDATE: Norm Lehrman reports, " A final note on this auction: I contacted the seller, (who had several other fakes listed in his ebay store). He was glad for the heads-up and has removed all the items. He said he had purchased them from a "new" dealer in Hong Kong, and was already suspicious that they might not be authentic. It's always nice to find an honest seller. Not everyone responds so graciously. This guy is okay." However, several new sellers are now selling bottle green or apple green 'moldavite'.

Norm adds, " I can only suggest that you look for IMCA credentials. If in doubt, I will always offer an opinion (for what it's worth---)" Norm, C.G.S. (cumo gran salis) http://tektitesource.com

(For more info on tektite recognition and testing ; From the Lab )