National Treasure actor Nicolas Cage has cultivated a lifetime of masterpieces and he has his exquisite career and fandom to show for it. Not many actors exist who can unfailingly claim this of themselves – Cage’s blockbuster hits have become all-time favorites and his flops have become adored cult classics over the years.

And as such, the idiosyncratic actor reigns as one of the most unique stars of Hollywood, not simply for his appearances on the silver screen but his unusual lifestyle and spending choices.

Nicolas Cage Gets Into a Bidding War With Leo DiCaprio

Of all the stars that exist in Hollywood, Nicolas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio have to be the most talked about actors from the 90s and early 2000s, but while DiCaprio went on to retain the fame throughout his career, Cage has mostly stepped into the background with his personal life keeping him busier than his professional one.

However, the actor has been making his comeback after a long while, and with it, some stories about the otherwise private celebrity have been making it to the forefront of public attention as well.

The auctioned-off dinosaur skull was returned to Mongolian authorities
In a bidding war against Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicolas Cage once fought for the possession of a nearly 70 million years old skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar.

The remains of the long-extinct species, which was being auctioned off at the Beverly Hills Gallery, was bought by Cage for $276,000, and even though the Titanic actor was outbid in a race to own the artifact that would purely make sense in an Indiana Jones adventure, in the long run, it was Nicolas Cage who suffered the greater loss.

The Tyrannosaurus skull, although not the most expensive, must have been a prized collection among the numerous things that have come into the possession of the Ghost Rider actor over the decades. Not only was the dinosaur skull the most ancient, but it was also the most controversial item that Cage owned.

Soon after the actor bought the auctioned piece, the Mongolian government claimed it was stolen from the country illegally and asked for it to be returned. Nicolas Cage revealed in an interview with GQ:

“It was the skull I bought at an auction, and I bought it legally. Here’s the MacGuffin: When the Mongolian government said they needed it back, I gave it to them, but I never got my money back. So, somebody at the auction house should be in jail.”

Nic Cage
Alex Schack, Cage’s publicist revealed that the Department of Homeland Security had stepped in to process the skull’s return after being informed of its illegal status, although the Gallery had made no claims whatsoever on the matter when it went up on auction.

The skull was one of the most uniquely extravagant things that Cage owned. The actor explains his desire for spending money on lavish objects comes from his uncle, the legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, who had inspired him since childhood to grow into a larger-than-life character.