But warns, "there may be a leveling off in the next year or two at the wholesale and public auction level, particularly if there is an economic slowdown or recession." "The fossil market has seen a large upswing in pricing during the last three to five years due to increased interest on the part of the public and consequently increased demand," she said. This 22-foot-long triceratops replica skeleton can be yours on June 7 for $30,000-$50,000 at Bonhams Image: Bonhamsįlorian is cautiously optimistic yet sees big opportunities. Of the total, around $4 million came from its 11 natural history auctions, three of which included fossils. Last year their auctions brought in over $1 billion for the first time, a 27% increase over the previous year. Now that things are slowly getting back to normal, the question is will investors go back to traditional assets and leave others behind? Seeing the beauty in old bonesīonhams, which now has 14 salerooms around the world, is trying to make inroads into the natural history market. "Rarity, completeness and condition can affect pricing at auction," said Florian who has over 39 years of experience. "Fossils, particularly the highly aesthetic ones sold at public auction, are available in short supply and are likely to increase in value over the long term."ĭuring the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, people started to invest with gusto in nontraditional assets like cryptocurrencies, wine, sneakers, NFTs (nonfungible tokens), or collectibles and sports cards. Authenticity, provenance and paperwork proving that a specimen was legally excavated are also important. Quality, how well something is preserved and completeness are major factors to take into account. In a short tutorial, Bonhams laid out some tips for buyers. "The organism needs to undergo a rapid burial in an undisturbed fashion so that it is preserved and fossilized." Add to that a sense of adventure and the enormous amount of backbreaking work involved in finding and excavating such fossils and they become even more intriguing. "Fossils are rare because certain conditions need to be present in order for a plant or animal to be preserved," Claudia Florian, consulting director of Bonhams' natural history department in Los Angeles, told DW. Claudia Florian, a trained gemologist, has turned her attention to rare minerals and fossils Image: Bonhams Though they are not as eye-catching as a full-scale dino, they are still a part of history and in some cases quite rare. rex, stegosaurus or triceratops. Auction houses, dealers and specialty shops are trying to convince collectors and investors to look closer at natural history specimens like fossilized eggs, oversized teeth, meteorites, minerals or even strands of mammoth hair. There are many smaller options for buying fossils besides a flashy T. rex that Sotheby's estimated could bring in $20 million sold for a lowly $6.1 million. But buyers may have been scared because a few weeks later there was another major disappointment. Using reproductions to complete skeletons is quite common. That possible $25-million sale was halted after experts highlighted the number of replica bones included as part of the skeleton. rex days before it was set to hit the market in Hong Kong. Christie's stopped the planned sale of a T. Yet two auctions late last year have caused concern. Sotheby's, Drouot and Heritage Auctions have also exceeded the million-dollar mark with recent sales, sometimes when only a fraction of the original bones were available. Buyers beware of dino-maniaĬhristie's isn't the only place to get expensive bones. Most of the 50-plus Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons discovered since 1902 are in natural history museums, which is not many when considering that around 2.5 billion of them roamed Earth over a 2.4-million-year period. rex made history after being sold for nearly $30 million Image: Mary Altaffer/AP Photo/picture alliance Made up of 188 bones with additional cast elements, it was originally found in South Dakota in 1987. The museum, which is set to open in 2025, has the resources to display the 37-foot-long (11 meters), 13-foot-tall male skeleton. It is the most expensive fossil ever to be sold at auction and well above its $6-8 million estimate. The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi surely had all this in mind when it bid $31.8 million (€29.8 million) for the 67-million-year-old Stan the T. This also means they are hard to move around, and you'll need lots of space. A triceratops skull wouldn't fit in a burglar's backpack. Investing in ancient specimens is not for everyone and there are a few things to think about. One good thing is they are hard to steal. Plus, they are extremely rare and will only go up in value, right? But are fossilized bones really a good investment?
rex? You can scare the neighbors with one.
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