Top 10 most expensive remains:
On October 21, a collector from the United States bought at an auction the fossilized remains of a Triceratops dinosaur for € 6.65 million. Earlier, ancient bones were sold for large sums. How much do museums and collectors pay for fossil remains?
In October 2020, at Christie’s auction, a complete tyrannosaur skeleton named “Stan” was sold for a record $ 31.8 million to an anonymous buyer. The remains were found in 1987 and were under study at the Black Hills Geological Research Institute before being sold.
In October 1997, the tyrannosaurus “Sue” went under the hammer at Sotheby’s for $ 8.3 million. It was acquired by the Chicago Museum of Natural History. Field. Since 2018, his own gallery has been dedicated to him, and the skull is exhibited separately, as it is often taken by researchers for study.
In October 2021, at an auction in Paris for $ 7.7 million (€ 6.65 million), an anonymous buyer purchased the skeleton of the Triceratops Big John. This is a record price for Europe. “Big John” was discovered in 2014 and named after the owner of the site where he was discovered
In June 2011, two dinosaur skeletons, dubbed “fighting couple”, were auctioned off by Heritage for $ 2.8 million to an anonymous museum. Skeletons of Allosaurus and Stegosaurus were offered together, as they were found close to each other with intertwined limbs. This led scientists to the conclusion that they fought to the death before they died.
In June 2018, the skeleton of an alleged Allosaurus was sold at the Aguttes auction in Paris for $ 2.4 million. Some differences in its skeleton sparked controversy that this is a new, not yet studied species of dinosaurs, but petitions and requests from scientists to postpone the auction to study the remains have led to nothing.
In December 2016, an Allosaurus skeleton named “Kahn” was sold for $ 1.2 million at the Aguttes auction. It is currently located in the gardens of Marquessac near the castle of the same name in Vezac in France.
In June 2012, a Tarbosaurus skeleton was sold at a Heritage auction for $ 1 million. A month later, the US Department of Homeland Security decided to return it to Mongolia, from where Tarbosaurus was illegally imported into the United States in 2010.
In December 2013, the Museum of Natural History of Denmark at the West Sussex auction purchased the skeleton of the Diplodocus Misty for $ 652,000. This is one of six nearly complete skeletons in the world, it was discovered in 2009 in Wyoming (USA)
In December 2017, the mammoth skeleton was auctioned for $ 645,000. Discovered in Siberia, the skeleton was acquired by the French waterproofing company SOPREMA. Since then, he has been exhibited in the firm’s lobby.
In 2007, actor Nicolas Cage purchased a tarbosaurus skull for $ 276,000. As it turned out later, it was illegally brought to the United States from Mongolia. In 2015, the actor agreed to return the skull to the Mongol authorities.
