"Big John", the largest known triceratops, auctioned 6.6 million euros in Paris

Europe 1 with AFP 6:32 p.m., October 21, 2021

The skeleton of "Big John", the largest triceratops ever found, was auctioned Thursday at 6.6 million euros (including costs) to an American individual in Paris, an auction which constitutes a "record in Europe" for a sale dinosaur fossil, according to the auctioneer.

66 million years

66 million years old, the triceratops was estimated at between 1.2 and 1.5 million euros. It was sold to the Hotel Drouot, in Paris, as part of the Naturalia auction organized by the Binoche and Giquello house, which each year attracts wealthy collectors passionate about impressive natural specimens. The good state of conservation of the skeleton, 60% complete (and whose skull is 70% complete) seduced the eleven registered bidders, who increased the stakes to 5.5 million euros (free of charge) , under the supervision of the auctioneer, Me Alexandre Giquello.

"It's a remarkable price," he said after the sale.

"I did not expect such a result, for sure," confirmed his partner Iacopo Briano, the expert in paleontology and natural history who headed the auction.

The buyer, interested in several lots, had sent an emissary on site.

The latter specified that "Big John" would return to the United States, where it was discovered in 2014 and that it would complete the personal collection of its buyer.

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Far from the world record

It is possible that the fossil will then be loaned, donated or exhibited at a museum, the expert and the auctioneer nevertheless underlined.

The amount of this acquisition exceeds the 3 million euros disbursed in Paris in 2020 for the purchase of an allosaur skeleton, an ancestor of the T-Rex.

The world record in this area remains held by the sale of a T-Rex in 2020 in New York.

A collector then spent $ 31.8 million to acquire the skeleton.