Huge 6.17" Megalodon Tooth - Stunning!

This is an absolutely massive and stunning Megalodon tooth at 6.17" in length. Very few teeth in excess of the magic 6" mark are found complete. It would have come from a very large, adult shark, probably in excess of 50 feet. A true apex predator of the Miocene oceans.

Not only is this tooth huge, but it is gorgeous. The enamel is in excellent shape and gorgeously colored, the serrations is excellent, the tip is sharp and the bourrelet is in great conditions. This tooth was bought from the estate of famous Megalodon hunter, Vito Bertucci ("Megalodon Man") and I recently acquired it from the person who bought it from the estate.

So, why is a 6+ inch Megalodon tooth in such great shape selling for the relatively low price? This tooth has been REPAIRED. It was originally found split down the middle and the two pieces were reattached together. The break was so clean, that it is only noticeable under very close inspection and didn't require any restoration. A section of the shorter root lobe on the non-display side was also restored. There is NO restoration anywhere on the blade or the display side of the tooth. The restored area on the shorter lobe would not have artificially lengthened the tooth.

We personally verified the repair work and re-restored the section of the root lobe as the original work was badly done. The tooth also still had organic material and latex covering portions of the root, presumably because it had been used to make a mold. We spent several hours cleaning the root under magnification to remove this without doing any damage.

The last photo shows the extent of the restoration work. Had this tooth not been repaired or required any restoration it would be a $3k+ tooth to a collector. As it is, it's still massive and spectacular.