RE: ⬆️ VOLUME27 May 2026 18:17
Record-Breaking Dinosaurs
Gus will also prove a fierce contender on the block. In the decades since Sotheby’s sold Sue to Chicago’s Field Museum for a then-record $8.36 million in 1997, prehistoric sales have only soared. In 2020, Stan brought in $31.8 million at Christie’s, before Apex, a Stegosaurus skeleton, netted an astronomical $44 million at Sotheby’s in 2024—still the reigning record for a dinosaur fossil at auction.
And the market remains red-hot. Just last year, a juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton raked in $30.5 million at Sotheby’s, demolishing its $6 million estimate. New players have also entered the arena: Phillips sold its first dinosaur fossil, a Triceratops specimen, for $5.4 million in November 2025; Joopiter brokered the $5.55 million sale of another Triceratops this March, while New York art gallery Amanita is currently selling three Maisaura fossils.
“The dinosaur market today is broader than most people realize—and widening,” Hatton added, noting the record number of registrants for Sotheby’s natural history auction last year. “Interest now comes not only from U.S.-based museums and private collectors, but also major international museums, foundations, and individuals creating destinations of their own. What unites them isn’t a single profile but a shared respect and curiosity for objects that are not only visually impressive and one-of-a-kind, but have genuine scientific importance.”