Court Reclaims 10 1933 St Gaudens Double Eagles

You remember the story of a T-Rex named SUE. The guys that discovered the fossil ended up in prison and government got the bones.

That is the government case indeed. PBS must have been lying. What fossil did this guy Larson steal? PBS had a show about this case on "NOVA" I think. Who resolved this case. I understood from the show that a Native American gave Larson permission to dig fossils on what he said was his property. The feds said is was government property. You are saying all the fuss about SUE was just a civil matter? I don't believe that. Isn't Sue at Smithsonian today, so government got the bones and the guy who found SUE got prison. Which facts are not correct?

For one, it is at the Field Museum in Chicago which is either a private nonprofit or is owned by the city of Chicago (I'm having a hard time figuring this out). Even if owned by the city, that is very different than being owned by the US government. Regardless, the vast majority of its funding comes from non-governmental sources. They paid over $8 million at auction for it. Any private buyer could have done the same thing.

The government got involved because the land was held in trust by the US government. A lengthy court battle determined it belonged to the Native American man that claimed ownership. I find it HIGHLY unlikely that anyone would sell an $8 million dollar fossil for $5000. Maybe Larson should have written up a clear bill of sale if he really thought he was paying $5000 for the skeleton. Given that a court didn't believe him and that he was convicted of other fraudulent fossil dealings I find his story highly suspect.

You are asking me to tell you what facts are not correct but you haven't bothered to look this up yourself. You are going by what you remember of some documentary, parts of which you have clearly remembered incorrectly. I'm not trying to be mean, just asking that if you are challenging my assertions please take the time to verify what you can on your own.