Many dinosaur specimens have been sold at auction, as part of the fossil trade. On average, around five dinosaur skeletons are put up for auction each year.[1] These specimens are mostly purchased by wealthy private collectors and museums in Europe and the United States, though interest has been growing in China as well. The private sale of fossils has attracted criticism from paleontologists, as it presents an obstacle to fossils being publicly accessible to research.
Most countries where relatively complete dinosaur specimens are commonly found have laws against the export of fossils. The United States allows the sale of specimens collected on private property. As such, the majority of dinosaur fossils sold at auction were collected in the United States. However, smuggled specimens, particularly from Mongolia, also appear at auctions, often with falsified information on their source.
This list includes both specimens sold at auction and specimens that were scheduled to be sold at auction that have received news coverage.
| Name (Spec #) | Taxon | Reported material | Discovery | Auction | Notes | Images | Source | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auction House | Date | Location | Sale price (USD) | |||||||||
| Original | Adjusted | |||||||||||
| Unidentified | Nest with 10 eggs | Found in China | Bonhams | London | $76,000 | $ | Purchaser was an anonymous American buyer. Collector also bought a set of 5 eggs at same auction for $18,750. | [2] [3] | ||||
| Sue (FMNH PR 2081) | Tyrannosaurus rex | 90% of a skeleton | Discovered August 12, 1990, by Sue Hendrickson in the Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, United States Excavated by Hendrickson and the Black Hills Institute. | Sotheby's | New York City | $8,362,500 | $ | Purchased by and now displayed at the Field Museum of Natural History. Most complete known specimen of Tyrannosaurus,[4] and among the largest.[5] Most expensive fossil sold until the sale of Stan in 2020. | [6] | |||
| Barnum | Tyrannosaurus rex | 20% of a skeleton | Collected by Japeth Boyce in Wyoming, United States in 1995 | Bonhams | Los Angeles | $93,250 | $ | Reported to potentially be the same individual as the first T. rex specimen ever discovered, now at the Natural History Museum, London. | [7] [8] | |||
| Unidentified | Nest with 22 eggs | Collected in Guangdong, China in 1984 | Bonhams | Los Angeles | $420,000 | $ | Sale later cancelled and seized by customs agents. | [9] [10] | ||||
| Tarbosaurus bataar | Skull | Collected from Mongolia | I. M. Chait | New York City | $270,000 | $ | Specimen bought by actor Nicolas Cage. Specimen determined to have been illegally exported. Cage surrendered the specimen to authorities for repatriation to Mongolia in 2015 | [11] [12] [13] | ||||
| Triceratops | Skull | Maynards | Vancouver | $66,500 | $ | Originated from the collection of a Japanese department store. Sold significantly below estimates. | [14] [15] [16] [17] | |||||
| Edmontosaurus | $150,000 | $ | Originated from the collection of a Japanese department store. Sold significantly below estimates. | |||||||||
| Triceratops | 80% complete skull | Collected in North Dakota, US | Bonhams | New York City | $242,000 | $ | ||||||
| Alioramus remotus | Skull | Collected in "Central Asia" (presumably Mongolia) | $206,000 | $ | [18] [19] | |||||||
| Edmontosaurus | 90% complete skeleton | Found near Ruth Mason Ranch near Faith, South Dakota, US sometime prior to 1991 | Bonhams | Las Vegas | $458,000 | $ | [20] [21] [22] | |||||
| Allosaurus | Skeleton | Collected in Wyoming, US | Sotheby's | Paris | $1,815,450 | $ | Said to originate from an old German collection | [23] [24] | ||||
| Fighting Pair | Allosaurus + Stegosaurus | Stegosaurus: 75%–80% of a skeleton; incorporates elements of second specimen. Allosaurus: mostly complete, including complete skull | Collected in 2007 from Dana Quarry, Wyoming, US | Heritage Auctions | Dallas | $2,748,000 | $ | A carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaur preserved together. Purchased by a museum. | [25] [26] [27] | |||
| Triceratops | "Virtually complete" skeleton along with a skull | Found in South Dakota, US in 2004, the skull and skeleton were found 750 ft apart, and it is not clear that they belong to the same individual | $657,250 | $ | Auctioned in the same sale as "Fighting Pair" | [28] [29] | ||||||
| Tarbosaurus bataar | Skeleton | Collected from Mongolia | Heritage Auctions | New York City | $1,050,000 | $ | Sale later withdrawn. Subject of the legal case United States v. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton and subsequently returned to Mongolia. | [30] [31] | ||||
| Misty | Diplodocus | Skeleton | Collected from Dana Quarry, Wyoming, US, in 2009 | Summers Place | Billingshurst | $652,000 | $ | Purchased by the Natural History Museum of Denmark. | [32] [33] [34] | |||
| Freya | Hypacrosaurus | Skeleton | Collected from Montana, US | Summers Place | Billingshurst | $178,200 | $ | [35] [36] | ||||
| Kan | Allosaurus | Skeleton | Collected from Harlan Ranch, Johnson County, Wyoming, US, in 2013 | Drouot | Paris | $1,155,000 | $1,320,078.37 | Sold to Kleber Rossillon, on display at the Château de Marqueyssac. | [37] [38] [39] [40] | |||
| Triceratops | Skull | Collected in Wyoming, US | Drouot | Paris | $188,000 | $ | [41] [42] | |||||
| Diplodocus/Kaatedocus | Skeleton | Eastern Big Horn Mountains, Johnson County, Wyoming | Drouot | Paris | $1,771,200 | $1,934,863.91 | Sold alongside an Allosaurus, both sold to same collector, a Filipino businessman[43] | [44] [45] | ||||
| Allosaurus | 60% complete skeleton[46] | Eastern Big Horn Mountains, Johnson County, Wyoming | Paris | $1,734,300 | $1,894,554.25 | Sold alongside a Diplodocus, both sold to same collector, a Filipino businessman | [47] | |||||
| Allosaurus | 70% of a skeleton | Collected in 2013 in Wyoming, US | Drouot | Paris | $2,340,000 | $2,556,222.65 | Potentially represents a new species | [48] | ||||
| Maximus | Thescelosaurus | 70%–75% of skeleton, including parts of skull | Collected in 2018 in the Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, US | Piguet | Geneva | $ | $ | [49] [50] [51] | ||||
| Stan (BHI 3033) | Tyrannosaurus rex | 70% of a skeleton | Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, US Found by Stan Sacrison in 1987, and excavated by the Black Hills Institute in 1992. | Christie's | New York City | $31,800,000 | $ | Purchased by the state of Abu Dhabi.[52] Most expensive fossil ever sold until the sale of the Stegosaurus Apex in 2024. Sale did not include rights to reproduction, which were retained by Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. Numerous replicas are exhibited in museums worldwide. | [53] | |||
| Allosaurus | Skeleton | Collected in Wyoming, US in 2016 | Drouot | Paris | $3,466,000 | $3,466,000 | [54] | |||||
| Big John | Triceratops | 60% of a skeleton, including 75% of skull | Found by Walter Stein in May 2014, in the Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, US Excavation complete by August 2015. | Drouot | Paris | $7,740,000 | $7,740,000 | Purchased by an anonymous American collector. Guinness World Records claimed it was the largest known Triceratops skeleton,[55] with a skull reconstructed to be 2.62m (08.6feet) long. Most expensive Triceratops sold, and most expensive fossil sold in Europe. | [56] [57] | |||
| Hector | Deinonychus | Around 50% of a skeleton with 126 preserved bones, missing all or most of the skull | Excavated from Wolf Canyon, Carbon County, Montana, US from sediments of the Cloverly Formation in February 2015 | Christie's | New York City | $12,412,500 | $12,412,500 | Previously displayed at the Natural History Museum of Denmark from 2020-2021 | [58] [59] [60] [61] | |||
| Gorgosaurus | Partial skeleton consisting of 79 elements | Excavated from the sediments of the Judith River Formation in Chouteau County, Montana, US, in 2018 | Sotheby's | New York City | $6,069,500 | $6,069,500 | [62] [63] | |||||
| Triceratops | Skull | Excavated from the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, US | $661,500 | $661,500 | [64] | |||||||
| Allosaurus | Articulated leg and foot | Excavated from Sutton Quarry in Moffat County, Colorado, US | $163,800 | $163,800 | [65] [66] | |||||||
| Zephyr | Camptosauridae | Partial skeleton | Found near Skull Creek in Moffat County, Colorado, US in 2019 | Giquello & Associés | Paris | $660,738 | $660,738 | [67] [68] | ||||
| Maximus | Tyrannosaurus rex | Skull | Excavated from the Hell Creek Formation in Harding County, South Dakota, US in 2020 | Sotheby's | New York | $6,069,500 | $6,069,500 | Sold well below estimate of $15–20 million | [69] [70] [71] | |||
| 293 Trinity | Tyrannosaurus rex | Composite ~ 50% complete skeleton of 293 bones from three individuals | Excavated from several sites in the Hell Creek Formation, Montana and the Lance Formation, Wyoming, US between 2008 and 2013 | Koller | Zurich | $6,200,000 | $6,200,000 | [72] [73] [74] | ||||
| Barry | Camptosaurus | 80% complete skeleton with a largely complete skull | Discovered around 2000 in sediments of the Morrison Formation in Crook County, Wyoming, United States | Drouot | Paris | $985,447 | $985,447 | [75] [76] [77] [78] | ||||
| Apex | Stegosaurus | Largely complete skeleton, most complete known skeleton of Stegosaurus. | Discovered in 2020 in Moffat County, Colorado, US | Sotheby's | New York | $44,600,000 | $44,600,000 | Sold 11 times above pre-sale estimates to American billionaire financier Kenneth Griffin. Most expensive fossil ever sold as of 2024. | [79] | |||
Some specimens planned to be auctioned did not sell, due to failing to meet the reserve price, legal challenges, or other obstacles. This list also includes specimens whose planned auction was announced, but for which information on whether it was sold is not available.
| Name (Spec #) | Taxon | Material | Discovery | Auction | Notes | Images | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auction House | Date | Location | |||||||
| Z-Rex | Tyrannosaurus | Found in South Dakota, US in 1992 | eBay | N/A | Disrupted by prank bidders | [80] [81] | |||
| Millionaire.com | |||||||||
| Conchoraptor | Found in China | Guernsey's | New York City | Failed to receive a single bid. | [82] [83] | ||||
| Stygimoloch | Largely complete skull | Near Gumbo Butte, Montana, US | Failed to meet reserve price | ||||||
| Triceratops | Found in North Dakota, US, in 2004 | Christie's | Paris | Failed to meet reserve price, subsequently purchased by an American collector | [84] [85] [86] | ||||
| Dryosaurus | Found in Wyoming, US in 1993 | I. M. Chait | New York City | Failed to meet reserve price. Subsequently purchased by businessman John S. Middleton and donated to the Beneski Museum of Natural History at Amherst College. Reported to be one of the most complete Dryosaurus specimens. | [87] [88] [89] [90] | ||||
| Samson | Tyrannosaurus | 55% complete skeleton | Near Buffalo, South Dakota, US prior to 1994 | Bonhams | Las Vegas | Failed to meet reserve price at auction, subsequently purchased by an undisclosed buyer | [91] [92] | ||
| Prosaurolophus | Skeleton with mummified skin | Sotheby's | Paris | Failed to meet reserve price | [93] [94] [95] | ||||
| CLOVER Le Combattant | Tenontosaurus | Largely complete skeleton | Montana, US in 2008 | [96] | |||||
| Suuwassea | |||||||||
| Triceratops | Skull | ||||||||
| Dueling Dinosaurs | Tyrannosaurus + Triceratops | Montana, US, in 2006 | Bonhams | New York City | Failed to meet reserve price | [97] | |||
| Dragon King | Triceratops | 95% complete skull | Montana, US First spotted by landowner Ray Novakovich in 1992, but not excavated until 2003. | Evolved LTD | Hong Kong | Reported in 2015 to be largest known Triceratops skull, at 2.8m (09.2feet) long. Unclear if the specimen was sold. | [98] [99] | ||
| Little Al | Allosaurus | Juvenile skeleton | Wyoming, US, in 2009 | Summers Place | Billingshurst | Failed to meet reserve price | [100] [101] [102] | ||
| Stegosaurus | Wyoming, US, in 2010 | Auctionata | Berlin | Failed to meet reserve price | [103] | ||||
| Allosaurus | 55% of a skeleton | Found in the United States | Artcurial | Paris | Failed to meet reserve price | [104] [105] [106] | |||
| Camptosaurus | 90% complete | Wyoming, US | Failed to meet reserve price | ||||||
| Ornitholestes + Othnielia | Two skeletons mounted in a combat pose | Johnson County, Wyoming, US | Drouot | Paris | Failed to meet reserve price | [107] [108] [109] | |||
| Hypacrosaurus | Adult and juvenile skeleton | Glacier County, Montana, US | [110] | ||||||
| Skinny | Diplodocidae | 90% of skeleton, with preserved patches of skin | Wyoming, US in 2012 | Drouot | Paris | Potentially a new species. Displayed in Heathrow Airport in April–May 2019, prior to auction. Failed to meet reserve price. | [111] [112] | ||
| Diplodocus | Dana Quarry, Wyoming, US in 2008 | Emirates Auction | August–September 2019 | Dubai | Originally at The Dubai Mall, no bidders | [113] [114] | |||
| Shen | Tyrannosaurus | Partial skeleton with 80 bones | Excavated in Montana, US in 2020 from sediments of the Hell Creek Formation | Christie's | November 2022 | Hong Kong | Sale cancelled after it became known that the casts used to replace missing bones were based on those of Stan, which is the intellectual property of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research | [115] [116] | |