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. 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.
Table
+Sortable table Name (Spec #) Taxon Reported materialDiscovery Auction Notes Images Source Auction House DateLocation Sale price (USD) Original AdjustedUnidentifiedNest with 10 eggsFound in ChinaBonhamsLondon$76,000$Purchaser was an anonymous American buyer. Collector also bought a set of 5 eggs at same auction for $18,750.Sue (FMNH PR 2081)Tyrannosaurus rex90% of a skeletonDiscovered August 12, 1990, by Sue Hendrickson in the Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, United States Excavated by Hendrickson and the Black Hills Institute.Sotheby'sNew York City$8,362,500$Purchased by and now displayed at the Field Museum of Natural History. Most complete known specimen of Tyrannosaurus, and among the largest. Most expensive fossil sold until the sale of Stan in 2020.Barnum Tyrannosaurus rex20% of a skeletonCollected by Japeth Boyce in Wyoming, United States in 1995BonhamsLos 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.UnidentifiedNest with 22 eggsCollected in Guangdong, China in 1984BonhamsLos Angeles$420,000$Sale later cancelled and seized by customs agents.Tarbosaurus bataarSkullCollected from Mongolia I. M. ChaitNew 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 2015TriceratopsSkull MaynardsVancouver$66,500$Originated from the collection of a Japanese department store. Sold significantly below estimates.Edmontosaurus$150,000$Originated from the collection of a Japanese department store. Sold significantly below estimates.Triceratops80% complete skullCollected in North Dakota, USBonhamsNew York City$242,000$Alioramus remotusSkullCollected in "Central Asia" (presumably Mongolia)$206,000$Edmontosaurus90% complete skeletonFound near Ruth Mason Ranch near Faith, South Dakota, US sometime prior to 1991BonhamsLas Vegas$458,000$AllosaurusSkeletonCollected in Wyoming, USSotheby'sParis$1,815,450$Said to originate from an old German collectionFighting PairAllosaurus + StegosaurusStegosaurus: 75%–80% of a skeleton; incorporates elements of second specimen. Allosaurus: mostly complete, including complete skullCollected in 2007 from Dana Quarry, Wyoming, USHeritage AuctionsDallas$2,748,000$A carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaur preserved together. Purchased by a museum.Triceratops"Virtually complete" skeleton along with a skullFound 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"Tarbosaurus bataarSkeletonCollected from MongoliaHeritage AuctionsNew 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.MistyDiplodocusSkeletonCollected from Dana Quarry, Wyoming, US, in 2009Summers PlaceBillingshurst$652,000$Purchased by the Natural History Museum of Denmark.FreyaHypacrosaurusSkeletonCollected from Montana, USSummers PlaceBillingshurst$178,200$KanAllosaurusSkeletonCollected from Harlan Ranch, Johnson County, Wyoming, US, in 2013DrouotParis$1,155,000$Sold to Kleber Rossillon, on display at the Château de Marqueyssac.TriceratopsSkullCollected in Wyoming, USDrouotParis$188,000$Diplodocus/KaatedocusSkeletonEastern Big Horn Mountains, Johnson County, Wyoming DrouotParis$1,771,200$Sold alongside an Allosaurus, both sold to same collector, a Filipino businessmanAllosaurus60% complete skeletonEastern Big Horn Mountains, Johnson County, WyomingParis$1,734,300$Sold alongside a Diplodocus, both sold to same collector, a Filipino businessmanAllosaurus70% of a skeletonCollected in 2013 in Wyoming, USDrouotParis$2,340,000$Potentially represents a new speciesMaximusThescelosaurus 70%–75% of skeleton, including parts of skullCollected in 2018 in the Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, USPiguetGeneva$$Stan (BHI 3033)Tyrannosaurus rex70% of a skeletonHell Creek Formation, South Dakota, US Found by Stan Sacrison in 1987, and excavated by the Black Hills Institute in 1992.Christie'sNew York City$31,800,000$Purchased by the state of Abu Dhabi. 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.Big SaraAllosaurusSkeletonCollected in Wyoming, US in 2016DrouotParis$3,466,000$ 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. DrouotParis $7,740,000$ Purchased by an anonymous American collector. Guinness World Records claimed it was the largest known Triceratops skeleton, with a skull reconstructed to be long. Most expensive Triceratops sold, and most expensive fossil sold in Europe.HectorDeinonychusAround 50% of a skeleton with 126 preserved bones, missing all or most of the skullExcavated from Wolf Canyon, Carbon County, Montana, US from sediments of the Cloverly Formation in February 2015Christie'sNew York City$12,412,500$Previously displayed at the Natural History Museum of Denmark from 2020-2021GorgosaurusPartial skeleton consisting of 79 elementsExcavated from the sediments of the Judith River Formation in Chouteau County, Montana, US, in 2018Sotheby'sNew York City$6,069,500$TriceratopsSkullExcavated from the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, US $661,500$Allosaurus Articulated leg and footExcavated from Sutton Quarry in Moffat County, Colorado, US$163,800$Bloomberg: Gorgosaurus Skeleton Sells for $6.1 Million at Sotheby's AuctionZephyrCamptosauridaePartial skeletonFound near Skull Creek in Moffat County, Colorado, US in 2019Giquello & AssociésParis$660,738$Maximus Tyrannosaurus rexSkullExcavated from the Hell Creek Formation in Harding County, South Dakota, US in 2020Sotheby'sNew York City$6,069,500$Sold well below estimate of $15–20 millionMaximus Rex Sothebys.com293 TrinityTyrannosaurus rexComposite ~ 50% complete skeleton of 293 bones from three individualsExcavated from several sites in the Hell Creek Formation, Montana and the Lance Formation, Wyoming, US between 2008 and 2013KollerZurich$6,200,000 $BarryCamptosaurus80% complete skeleton with a largely complete skullDiscovered around 2000 in sediments of the Morrison Formation in Crook County, Wyoming, United StatesDrouotParis$985,447$ApexStegosaurusLargely complete skeleton, most complete known skeleton of Stegosaurus.Discovered in 2020 in Moffat County, Colorado, USSotheby'sNew York City$44,600,000$Sold 11 times above pre-sale estimates to American billionaire financier Kenneth Griffin. Most expensive fossil ever sold as of 2024.VulcanApatosaurus75-80% complete skeletonDiscovered in 2018 in Wyoming, United StatesCollin du Bocage and BarbarossaNovember 16, 2024Paris$6,400,000$AllosaurusTwo skeletons, one adult one juvenileExcavated between 1994 and 2018, in Carbon County, Wyoming, USChristie'sDecember 12, 2024London$10,635,666$Purchased by businessman Su Binghai, later confiscated by UK authorities under the Proceeds of Crime ActStegosaurusPartial skeleton with "144 fossil bone elements"Excavated between 2002 and 2018, in Carbon County, Wyoming, US$5,592,555$CeratosaurusPartial skeleton of a juvenile, consisting of "139 original fossil bone elements with additional sculpted materials"Discovered in the Bone Cabin Quarry (West), Wyoming, in 1996Sotheby'sJuly 16, 2025New York City$30,510,000$The specimen had been on display at the Museum of Ancient Life, Thanksgiving Point, Utah but was de-accessioned from the collection in 2024.PachycephalosaurusSkullExcavated in 2024 on privately owned land in the Hell Creek Formation, Perkins County, South Dakota$1,400,000$CeraTriceratopsComplete skeleton of a juvenileExcavated in 2016 in the South Dakotan section of the Hell Creek FormationPhillipsNovember 20, 2025New York City$5,400,000$Named after the Cera, a character from the cartoon The Land Before TimeSpikeCaenagnathidae (oviraptorosaur)Partial skeleton with 100 bones, including "jaws, hands, pelvis, and feet"Excavated in 2022 from sediments of the Hell Creek Formation in South DakotaChristie'sDecember 11, 2025London$4,657,056$TreyTriceratopsLargely complete adult skeletonExcavated in 1993 from the Lance Formation near Lusk, Wyoming. JoopiterMarch 31, 2026Online$5,500,000$Previously on display at the Wyoming Dinosaur CenterGusTyrannosaurus"skeleton, judged to be one of the largest and most complete ever unearthed" "approximately 61% complete by bone count, 75 to 80% complete in terms of bone mass"Excavated in 2021 onwards from the Hell Creek Formation, Harding County, South Dakota, United StatesSothebysJuly 14, 2026New York$50,100,000$Named for Gary "Gus" Licking, land-owner of the excavation site. AllosaurusSkullExcavated from 1996 to 1997 from the Morrison Formation in Moffat County, Colorado, United States Sotheby'sJuly 14, 2026New York$1,536,000$The estimate had been $800,000 to $1,200,000.TyrannosaurusLegExcavated from the Hell Creek Formation in Ziebach County, South Dakota, United StatesSotheby'sJuly 14, 2026New York$1,792,000$GryposaurusSkeleton "with additional cast elements"Excavated from the Judith River Formation in Choteau County, Montana, United StatesSotheby'sJuly 14, 2026New York$1,280,000$
Specimens planned to be auctioned 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.