I am not really sure what to do with this dinosaur bone I have.
It was discovered in the 1950s I think somewhere in Colorado, Wyoming or the Dakotas. Found by my father who was a professional archaeologist later in life. If I recall correctly it is the horn of a multi-horned dinosaur and may have been a Styracosaurus or something similar. As you may see, it is about ten inches long and four inches wide. I would guess it weighs four pounds or 2 kilos.
I have had it since I was a kid. It is one of my prized possessions but all I know about it is that it was unearthed about there and about then and may be that thing. My dad died a long time ago and the provenance chain ended with him as I have no documentation.
I am conflicted about what to do as I would like to know more but I fear that if I turn to a professional source for advice, it may turn out I am possession of an artifact illegally and it may be confiscated. Going to a museum would be absolutely fine but not into the government's administrative abyss.
So what do you think is my best course of action?
Here a a few more pics if anyone is curious:
Figure out when the local gem and mineral show is around you. Bring your fossil but leave it in the car. Approach any of the guys there that are rocking fossils (there will be many) and tell them you have a Styracosaurus horn, it was found by your father, and you want to be able to show it in a cool way. They'll give you all sorts of suggestions about mounting, polishing, etc. Trade in fossils is nothing like trade in antiquities. Fossil sales are mundane (and rife with forgeries) with very little control. Unless you have strong reason to believe your specimen is archeologically vital, there's no reason not to enjoy it. Me? I'd get one side of it polished and then mount it. There might be some really cool structure you aren't seeing that would really set it off. Again, I'd ask at the lapidary show.
Excellent advice. Thank you. It would be amazing if I had a cross-section like that to display.
kleinbl00 is absolutely correct. There is no danger of it being claimed by the government, the laws regarding geological finds are different then archeological finds. Fossils, and other rare stones, can still be owned by private citizens. Given that your father was a professional paleontologist, I doubt you have to worry about it being obtained illegally, though really any legal action would have already happened. For all of that, it is a rather nice specimen. It's visually cool at the very least. If you don't have children who are interested in it, pretty please leave it to a museum in your will (check with your attorney how to do that).
Absolutely. I would never let this end up in an estate sale or the like. I have already considered contacting a museum or university over some other things I have. And yes it was definitely a legitimate find and there is no way he would have kept it (or been allowed to as he was just a teen at the time on a professional dig) if it was illegal at the time.
Tell us about the other stuff! I love the strange stuff I've got even if it feels like a burden because I don't really know what to do with it. My prominent things that gather er dust are a left hand sword from the war of 1812 that has several nicks where it met other blades in life and death combat. A few other older pointy weapons from Europe and an old brass Scottish mining Lantern that's in mint condition.
I don't have advice to give, there is plenty of good advice here already. I would ask that you let us know what you find out about it after you seek professional advice etc. I'm curious now.