I was pretty excited to finally get myself a basketball signed by Michael Jordan. Nicolas Cage, who is a known, avid collector, continues to fill me with insane jealousy.
Not only did he once own a copy of “Action Comics #1” – the first appearance of Superman that he auctioned off for over $2 million – but he apparently owns an authentic Tyrannosaurus Rex skull.
It wasn’t cheap, and now he is surrendering it to police.
Cage has agreed to turn over a rare stolen dinosaur skull he bought for $276,000 to U.S. authorities so it can be returned to the Mongolian government, writes Reuters.
The office of Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, filed a civil forfeiture complaint last week to take possession of the Tyrannosaurus bataar skull, which will be repatriated to Mongolia.
Cage is not accused of wrongdoing, adds the site adding that authorities said he voluntarily agreed to turn over the skull after learning of the circumstances.
Alex Schack, a publicist for Cage, said in an email that the actor received a certificate of authenticity from the gallery and was first contacted by U.S. authorities in July 2014, when the Department of Homeland Security informed him that the skull might have been stolen.
Here’s the kicker: Cage outbid fellow movie star Leonardo DiCaprio for the skull, according to prior news reports.
The I.M. Chait gallery had previously purchased and sold an illegally smuggled dinosaur skeleton from convicted paleontologist Eric Prokopi, whom Bharara called a “one-man black market in prehistoric fossils.”
Read the entire story at the above link.