Fossil Pearl Found in Iowa

by Shellane
(Humboldt, Iowa USA)

Fossil Pearl fround September 2008

Fossil Pearl fround September 2008

The last week in September 2008. My 8 year old niece, I call her Sweet Pea, and I were fossil hunting the rock cliffs along the West Des Moines River in Humboldt, Iowa. We found a large snail fossil about 12 foot up the side of the cliff. We climbed the cliff to slowly remove the fossil from the solid wall of lime rock. My niece noticed a crack in the wall near the snail fossil. She saw something shinny in the crack. I climbed down and found a stick for her to poke in the crack. She did and out of the crack came this beautiful gem. It appears off white but when placed near other objects it takes on a lightly blue tint. Not sure if it is worth much, is a little over a half an inch in diameter and the most beautiful thing we have found on our adventures so far. If you have some insight I would be happy to read you.


Thank you, Shellane and Sweet Pea

P.S. Our snail fossil find meassures 4 inches in length and 3 inches in width.

Blue Iowa Pearl Found when Fossil Hunting


Shellane has added this new photo and started a new page about her pearl.
See her new page here.

Comments for Fossil Pearl Found in Iowa

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Aug 18, 2020
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Pearl found
by: Ron s

I believe you. I fossil hunt in rockwall texas and find unbelievable fossils. There are a lot of cretaceous huge sea shells in the area. A month ago while looking for fossils I kneeled down to look at some interesting stuff, I glanced to the left and bam there it was staring me in the face. At first I thought a marble but how could it get here. Could it possibly be a pearl from cretaceous period. So far seems to be real deal. Under magnification the surface looks like a sand dunes like says on web.meas .506 .512 diameter, white. Not sure what to do with it.
Feb 16, 2018
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Lost my marbles
by: Sally C. Shells

I found two similar pieces while my boss was fishing in Rockport, TX. I grew up on the Mississippi gulf coast and have been collecting shells and other funky stuff that washes up my entire life. I have found some pretty weird stuff combing beaches... But these put the icing on my sand castle cake. The first one i found i thought... No big deal, its just a nice milkly marble. But i just couldn't toss it back. I put it in my "wanna-be pearls" collection box. But just a few days later, at a different location, i found another one!!! All i could do was think... Geez someone must really be messing with me... right? Even so... A mermaid must have her treasures. So i kept them both. Somehow i stumbled upon this story... And there it is... The twin... Well, triplet to my twins! I can take pictures if anyone is still hip to this thread... Have a blessed day... And if you have toes, instead of a fin... may sand always be between them. Sally.
May 12, 2016
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Clam MAYBE WITH A PEARL?
by: Anonymous

I found a fossil of a clam in Wyoming and thought maybe it could contain a pearl and if it did, Than what would it be worth if anything? Let me know at use2bawildchild@gmail.com
Apr 24, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Fossilized mother of pearl.
by: Anonymous

I own a fossilized mother of pearl cabochon. It is like a piece of fire. Beautiful and millions of years old. Very rare and not for sale.
Apr 14, 2013
Rating
starstar 		What?
by: Anonymous

The shell is a fossil,the pearl? nope.
Mar 17, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		sold
by: Anonymous

Ron,
Was not a marble. Sold it last month for $825.00
Thanks Shellane
Mar 17, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		I know exactly what that is,
by: Ron

Ok. You know some of you were thinking this too. It wasn't lodged into anything, but was loose, in the crack of the rock. It has nothing in common with the other fossil pearls in the links listed. So, what is it?

A marble. Yep. You were right. It's simply a marble. Some child was tossing it or dropped it or something similar. It looks just like a plain ole ordinary marble. It probably has a Chinese origin. You know, Made in China? I'd be willing to wager a whole dollar bill on it. You'd better hurry and find out for sure though. That dollar will be worth about five cents in a short amount of time.


Ron
Jul 13, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Treasure hunting
by: Mike Bradley

Dear fellow treasure hunters,

I'm interested if you had any responses of the professional kind. Fossil interested museums etc.

I'm also a treasure hunter, and I use a metal detector, but I love just as it seems you do just the exploring type.

Michael Bradley

mrcontest27@hotmail.com
Jun 14, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Large fossil pearl
by: Kari

Hi Scott,

I made the link to your fossil blog live. Fossils would be fun to blog about.

You may enjoy reading about this large fossil pearl from Vienna.

I found some small mollusk fossils a few weeks ago at a fossil park in Iowa. Once I realized what I was looking for they were pretty easy to spot.

Happy hunting!
Jun 14, 2010
Rating
starstarstar 		A late comment
by: Scott S

If makes sense that there are fossil pearls, but I have never stopped to consider them before. I will have to look for more of these.

Scott
http://myfossilfind.com
Nov 09, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		selling
by: Shellane

Currently I have it in a safe deposit box. Would be interested in selling it but am not really sure of it's value? Thank you Shellane
Nov 07, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Is the Pearl for Sale?
by: Mark

A very interesting piece. I am a Geologist and am wondering the age of the fossil. I am guessing it must be a Cretaceous pearl. The oldest ones are apparently Jurassic in age. Is the specimen for sale?
Jan 01, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Second page for this pearl
by: Kari

See another page and more comments about Shellane's pearl here.

https://www.karipearls.com/pearl-found-while-fossil-hunting-in-iowa.html
Jan 01, 2009
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Congratulations
by: Bruno

Hello:
Very nice piece.
I invite you to enjoy :
http://fossil.pearl.4t.com/ingles.html
Where I show several pieces of fossil pearls.
For several years I have been promoting these gems, very few people are interested because that intimidates them or the people tend to believe that they are forgeries.
I hope that you will have better luck.
Dec 30, 2008
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Pearl found in Iowa
by: Shellane

Gosh i have been trying to sign back on this site but have had some trouble. Can not seem to post another photo yet i shall try more. LOL
The Pearl that i found is not a fossil, but solid pearl. I found it in a small crack near cliffs when hunting for fossils.
Thanks Shellane
Dec 03, 2008
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		NICE FIND!!!!
by: Anonymous

Hello dear, I am very excited about your finding. I live next to a place that was an ocean as well and I always find shark teeth embedded in the rocks as well as many fossilized sea shells. I have always wondering how fossilized pearl might look, and just find your pearl in the web. I would like to have another picture of it closer to the pearl. Thank you.
Nov 15, 2008
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Wish you were my aunt!
by: Kari

Hello Shellane,

Wow....I wish you were my aunt. I'd LOVE to go fossil hunting with you! Your pearl is lovely and like Mandy said, feel free to send closer up shots of it. You can send more photos to: karipearls(AT)gmail(DOT)com and I can add them to your page.

I've seen other photos of fossil pearls with brilliant luster. To do some further research on fossil pearls, I recommend this comprehensive internet search tool:
http://searchit.sitesell.com/Kari2.html"

Go to the bottom of the page and click on "Search It".

Being three hours east of Des Moines, Iowa myself, in Muscatine, Iowa makes this find especially interesting to me.

Keep hunting!
Kari
Nov 14, 2008
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Nifty!
by: Mandy

That's really cool! It's hard to tell much about it without a more close-up shot -- if you can get one, you should definitely send it to Kari. I, for one, am intrigued!

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