A juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur fossil sold for $30.5 million at Sotheby’s natural history sale on July 16, far exceeding its high estimate of $6 million. The auction featured a six-minute bidding war among six bidders, making it the third-highest price ever for a dinosaur at auction. Other top lots included a Martian meteorite that sold for $5.3 million, a Pachycephalosaurus skull, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex foot, each fetching $1.758 million. All four top lots accepted cryptocurrency payments.
The sale underscores the booming market for natural history specimens, driven by wealthy collectors and institutions. The result follows Sotheby’s record $44.6 million sale of the ‘Apex’ skeleton to collector Ken Griffin in 2024, and highlights the growing crossover between art auctions and paleontological artifacts. The unnamed buyer plans to loan the Ceratosaurus to an institution, reflecting a trend of private collectors making high-profile fossils publicly accessible.