PART 1, acquisition
This piece was acquired via the "for sale" section of the Forum. The seller, @Fitch1979, Dries offered several jaw specimens, which were clearly superior to the mostly spurious Internet auction site examples. Dries provided some provenance on the fossil. It had resided in his family's private collection for over 26 years. It had been purchased at a gem and mineral show in Ghent from a collector who acquired the specimen in 1978.
After a pleasant exchange with Dries, a bargain was struck and the specimen shipped on December 9, 2017. Since the piece was located in Belgium, arrival involved a seemingly interminable wait. Finally, the tracking indicated arrival at US Customs on December 29th. Then the real wait ensued. The tracking was not updated until January 22, 2018. At that time notice was given that the package had been turned over to the "postal operator." Curiously, it arrived on my SC doorstep that very day! It was a surprise to open the door and find the huge (shipping weight 28 lbs.) shipping box resting there.
Here is the image posted to the Forum offering the fossil for sale.
...to be continued