Nicholas Cage and the Dinosaur Skull

Actor Nicholas Cage is well-known as an eccentric guy, and his many bizarre collections are a testament to that reputation. But in 2007, Cage bought a rare dinosaur skull that got him in trouble with the government of Mongolia. In this episode, we talk about his collections, the skull purchase, the A-List actor he outbid, and the unfortunate result of the purchase. Then we chat with Comedian and Mindreader, Eric Dittelman.

I’m fascinated with celebrities who have bizarre collections. Maybe it came from growing up in the 80s and hearing all the stories about Michael Jackson. It’s almost a pathological study to look at MJ and his collections. One of the more famous things he attempted to collect were the bones of Joseph Merrick, known to the world as “The Elephant Man.” While Jackson never actually acquired the skeleton, it helped to cement the reputation of what the media sometimes called “Wacko Jacko,” who collected strange things like self portraits that painted the singer as all kinds of historical or religious figures. 

Lots of celebrities have made news through their eccentric collections. Rosie O’Donnell   collected more than 2,500 toys from McDonalds Happy Meals. Tom Hanks famously collects vintage typewriters. Apparently Demi Moore collects antique dolls and Quentin Tarantino collects old board games. 

Collecting things is a fairly normal thing for people to do, but when it comes to strange or eccentric collections by celebrities, it’s sometimes almost like they’re trying fill a void. When you’re incredibly wealthy like Jerry Seinfeld or Jay Leno, collecting cars becomes an obsession and something they can control. It’s not about the money as much as it is about the acquisition of something rare to help complete this collection. Some experts suggest that for people in the public eye, collecting provides a sense of grounding amidst a hectic lifestyle, offering a structured way to feel attached to particular memories or interests. This would certainly make sense in the case of Michael Jackson’s zoo animals, or Rosie O’Donnell’s McDonald’s toys. 

Today’s story is about the collections of the famous actor, Nicolas Cage. His real name is Nicolas Copolla, but in an effort to stand out on his own and not use the legacy of the Coppola name, he chose the name “Cage,” inspired by the Marvel superhero, Luke Cage. His fame on screen comes from films like Face/Off, Leaving Las Vegas and National Treasure, but it’s his exaggerated acting style and eccentricity that has made him a polarizing figure. Not to mention, taking roles in films that some people think are beneath him. 

In his personal life, Cage is well known for collecting. His most normal collection is probably his incredible comic books. As I mentioned a moment ago, his chosen last name is an allusion to comics and his fascination with them is over the top. He even named his son Kal-El – the real name of Superman. He owned a copy of Action Comics #1 – worth something like $6 million dollars and Detective Comics #27 – worth around $2 million. Sadly, these were stolen along with a lot of his other comic books, but he has since collected even more. 

Some of the bizarre purchases Cage has made aren’t even part of a collection, but just eccentric things to own, like his own Gulfstream Jet, two separate islands in the Bahamas, 9 rolls royces, two yachts, 15 homes and – get this – several castles in Europe, including the Schloss Neidstein castle in Germany and the Milford Castle in England. 

In New Orleans, Nicolas Cage purchased a pyramid-shaped tomb in a graveyard with the expectation that he’ll be buried there one day. In his home, he has collected 2 albino king-cobras, which are incredibly rare and complement his menagerie of pure-bred dogs, rare birds and lizards. And for some reason, a small collection of questionably authentic shrunken heads. 

And that brings us to a super rare collector’s item. A dinosaur skull.

In 2007, a Natural History auction was held in Manhattan by the I.M. Chait Gallery. The collection included a bunch of bizarre items like a meteorite from Mars, a large gold nugget, skulls from lions, hyenas and warthogs, an Egyptian mummy’s hand and the prized item of the auction: the skull of a Tyrannosaurus Bataar. 

The Tyrannosaurus bataar was a close relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex. It’s also referred to as a Tarbosaurus bataar. It lived in the Late Cretaceous period around 70 million years ago and was officially discovered and named in 1955 from the remains that were dug a decade earlier. The name bataar is a misspelling of the Mongolian word “baatar, meaning “hero.” It’s slightly smaller than the T. rex with shorter arms and more teeth. Scientists are unsure if the Tarbosaurus bataar is its own genus or just a sub-species of the Tyrannosaurus rex. 

So this auction house, I.M. Chait, showed off this dinosaur skull, which they said was 67 million years old, 32 inches long and around 65 percent complete. The lower right jaw and back of the skull were filled in with casts. David Herskowitz, the gallery’s Natural History Director, said the skull was acquired in 2006 from a Japanese collector who had been storing it in a box for 50 years. It was the largest artifact of its kind to ever be sold at this type of auction to the public. 

I found some articles detailing the auction and the results in which the name of the person who bought the skull wasn’t divulged, but at that time, Herskowitz mentioned to the press that the buyer frequently shows off his collections to the public and was a known figure. It wasn’t long until the word got out.

The winner of the auctioned dinosaur skull was none other than Nicolas Cage. With a bid of $276,000, he had outbid Leonardo DiCaprio. He also purchased a giant wolf skull for $50,000. Cage was excited to own the prized dinosaur skull and display it with the rest of his collection. And that was the end of the story until 2012. 

This is where we meet Preet Bharara. Bharara has been a famous player in American politics since 2006 when he was named Chief Counsel to Senator Chuck Schumer. He’s held many roles – the most prestigious being U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He’s prosecuted high profile cases like taking down insider trading, New York Mafia bosses, leading counter-terrorism probes against Al-Qaeda and more. He made news in 2017 when he refused to resign when Donald Trump was elected and forced the former President to fire him.

In 2012, Bharara was working as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with Special Agent, James T. Hayes Jr. of the New York Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These two were working in response to multiple requests from the Government of Mongolia. 18 dinosaur skeletons had been stolen from Mongolia, including 2 skeletons of the Tyranosaurus bataar. The bones had been smuggled into the U.S. using false customs and importation documents. They had even found the people responsible. A man named Eric Prokopi, who called himself a “commercial paleontologist” had pled guilty to conspiracy to smuggle illegal goods, possessing stolen property, making false statements, smuggling goods into the United States, and interstate sale of stolen goods. We don’t know if Prokopi was the man who smuggled the skull for sale by the I.M. Chait gallery, but we do know that the gallery claims the seller was from Florida, which was also the location of Eric Prokopi. All of these dinosaur bones had been looted from Mongolia after being discovered in the Gobi Desert. And now they were being returned to their rightful owners – the government of Mongolia.

That’s why soon after Bharara’s task force announced the return of these artifacts, Nicolas Cage got a visit from Homeland Security Agents. When he learned of the true history of the skull, he agreed to turn it over and the skull was returned to Mongolia with the rest of the stolen property. 

Nicolas Cage’s insane spending habits have landed him in financial hot water. He’s had to foreclose on some of his properties and is often criticized for his poor investments. In 2019, New York Times interviewed him and asked him about it. Cage claimed that it wasn’t the eccentric collections like shrunken heads that got him in trouble. It was bad real estate purchases. But he did mention the dinosaur skull fiasco. He also talked a little bit about why he was collecting these odd items. And this quote is a little long, but I’m going to read the whole thing, because it really shows off Cage’s eccentricity. He told the New York Times’s David Marchese:

“The dinosaur skull was an unfortunate thing, because I did spend $276,000 on that. I bought it at a legitimate auction and found out it was abducted from Mongolia illegally, and then I had to give it back. Of course it should be awarded to its country of origin. But who knew? Plus, I never got my money back. So that stank. But I went years where all I was doing was meditating three times a day and reading books on philosophy, not drinking whatsoever. That was the time when I almost went on — you might call it a grail quest. I started following mythology, and I was finding properties that aligned with that. It was almost like “National Treasure.” Of course, that didn’t sustain. On top of which, I said, “I’m going to get off philosophy,” because I became like a kite with a string but no anchor. No one could understand what I was talking about. And I thought people would rather see me as an orangutan than as an eagle meditating on the mountaintop anyway.”

So there you have it. An Eagle. Not an orangutan. Whatever that means. The Internet Says it’s True.

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