For day-to-day finds, such a list may seem fanciful. But there were months of discussions over who owned, and so had the right sell at auction, the enormous Tyrannosaurus 'Sue', worth US $8 million. This incredible specimen, the largest and most complete T. rex fossil ever discovered, was found in 1990 by dedicated fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson. A volunteer with the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, South Dakota, Sioux leader Maurice Williams. Peter Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute, bought the rights to excavate the tyrannosaur for a comparatively small sum, but the validity of this sale was later contested by the US Federal Government. While her ownership was under question, 'Sue' spent time in
transit under conditions that many palaeontologists argued would have a detrimental effect upon her bones. She was eventually sold in New York by Sotheby's, for the famous seven-figure sum, in October 1997, seven years after her discovery.