Field-collect at a pay-to-dig quarry

1. Book and read the terms. Every pay site says what you may keep (usually everything except named rarities), what tools are allowed, and the hours. Print or screenshot the confirmation — it is part of the provenance.

2. Kit: a wide-blade chisel and a 2–3 lb hammer for splitting; a thin putty knife for lifting slabs; safety glasses without exception; gloves; a kneeling pad; newspaper and bubble wrap; masking tape and a marker; a rigid box for plates; water; sun protection. Most sites sell or lend hammers; none lend safety glasses.

3. Splitting: set the chisel in the bedding plane at the edge of a slab and tap along the edge rather than striking one point; the slab opens along the plane. Look at both halves — part and counterpart — and keep both when a fossil is on the split; a fish is worth more with its counterpart than without.

4. Wrap each find as you go: newspaper around the slab, a tape label with a running number and the layer if the site names it, into the box flat and supported. A plate that survives the split and breaks in the car is the common loss.

5. Log the finds in Field capture before you leave the site: the locality record for the quarry, the date, the count, the GPS (the site, not the exact spot, is what matters here) and the receipt photographed into the vault. The quarry's name and the date are what a buyer asks about.

6. Ask staff to look at anything unusual. Sites keep rarities under their terms; they will tell you, and a piece that goes to a museum with your name on it is worth more than one that goes home in a box.

7. At home, unwrap onto a table, number each piece, and put the unprepared plates in a dry, flat stack with foam between them until you prepare them. Clean nothing until it is recorded.