Fakebusters: Moldavite 2

This is a fairly important Fakebusters, as moldavite is an incredibly expensive impactite, with even the tiny pieces commanding a large price. As a result, it is now often faked, usually by using green bottle glass! So we had to update you on some of the new fakes we have found.

This is one of the easier to spot fakes, as there is not enough variation in the surface or shape of the specimen.  Moldavite almost never forms in a perfectly round circle, as it is an impactite.  Contact with the upper regions of the atmosphere is way too traumatic to result in an impactite this smooth! The most common method of faking uses kinetic sand to mould melted bottle glass, in an attempt to match the colour and texture of real moldavite.

This one is far more subtle, as it has quite a lot of pitting and variation. One of the biggest hints here is the smoothness of the outside, being perfectly shiny.  This could have been real moldavite that was acid treated to make it smooth, however that would significantly de-value a real moldavite, so why would you even consider doing that?

This is a real piece of moldavite. Note the leafy appearance, which is fairly characteristic of moldavite, as well as the pitted surface. Another huge hint will be the price. The faked moldavites are always cheap, usually seen on eBay in an auction starting around $0.01 USD.  No one would ever risk a real moldavite on an internet auction for a single penny!

This is just a bonus round... sold as RED MOLDAVITE!