The most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever sold is Gus, a Tyrannosaurus rex that fetched $50.1 million at Sotheby’s in New York on July 14, 2026. It beat the 2024 Stegosaurus Apex ($44.6 million) and the 2020 T. rex Stan ($31.8 million). This list ranks the ten highest verified auction prices for dinosaur skeletons, from record sales in 2026 down to the first modern blockbuster in 1997.
| Rank | Item | Price | Sale date | Sold at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gus, Tyrannosaurus rex | $50.1 million | July 14, 2026 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 2 | Apex, Stegosaurus | $44.6 million | July 17, 2024 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 3 | Stan, Tyrannosaurus rex | $31.8 million | October 6, 2020 | Christie’s, New York |
| 4 | Juvenile Ceratosaurus | $30.5 million | July 16, 2025 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 5 | Two Allosaurus skeletons (adult and juvenile) | about $10.7 million (£8.13 million) | December 12, 2024 | Christie’s, London |
| 6 | Sue, Tyrannosaurus rex | $8.36 million | October 4, 1997 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 7 | Big John, Triceratops | $7.7 million (€6.6 million) | October 21, 2021 | Hôtel Drouot, Paris |
| 8 | Gorgosaurus | $6.1 million | July 28, 2022 | Sotheby’s, New York |
| 9 | Trinity, Tyrannosaurus rex composite | about $6.1 million (CHF 5.5 million) | April 18, 2023 | Koller, Zurich |
| 10 | Stegosaurus skeleton | about $5.7 million (£4.275 million) | December 12, 2024 | Christie’s, London |
1. Gus, Tyrannosaurus rex: $50.1 million
Gus is a T. rex about 38 feet (11.6 meters) long and roughly 61 percent complete. It was found in 2021 on a South Dakota ranch and takes its name from the ranch owner. Sotheby’s estimated it at $20 to $30 million.
Bidding ran about ten minutes and the hammer fell far above the top estimate. The buyer stayed anonymous. It is the highest price ever paid at auction for a dinosaur skeleton and it overtook the 2024 record in under two years.
How we valued it: the final price announced after the sale, a record for any dinosaur fossil sold at auction. Fee treatment as reported in the sale results.
2. Apex, Stegosaurus: $44.6 million
Apex is the largest known Stegosaurus. It is about 27 feet (8.2 meters) long and 11 feet tall, with 254 of roughly 319 bones preserved, plus skin impressions. It was found in Colorado in 2022.
Sotheby’s estimated it at $4 to $6 million. Seven bidders pushed it to more than ten times the low estimate after about 15 minutes. The new owner later loaned it to a New York museum, where it went on public display in December 2024.
How we valued it: the price with fees as announced after the sale.
3. Stan, Tyrannosaurus rex: $31.8 million
Stan is a T. rex found in South Dakota in 1987 and excavated in 1992. At more than 70 percent complete by bulk, it is among the most complete T. rex skeletons known. Christie’s offered it inside a 20th Century art evening sale, which was part of the story: dinosaurs had moved into the art market.
The hammer price was $27.5 million. Fees brought the total to $31.8 million. For almost four years it held the record for any fossil.
How we valued it: hammer price of $27.5 million plus buyer’s fees, a total of $31.8 million.
4. Juvenile Ceratosaurus: $30.5 million
This young Ceratosaurus is about 10 feet 8 inches long and 6 feet 3 inches tall, with 139 original bones and a skull of 57 elements. Ceratosaurus is a horned Jurassic predator that is rarely seen in complete form.
Sotheby’s estimate was $4 to $6 million. The skeleton sold for more than five times the top figure, with fees. The buyer was not named, and reports say the new owner plans to lend it to an institution.
How we valued it: price with fees and costs as reported from the sale results.
5. Two Allosaurus skeletons (adult and juvenile): about $10.7 million (£8.13 million)
Two Allosaurus skeletons sold together as one lot in the Jurassic Icons sale. Allosaurus is the Morrison Formation predator that Kan, our old French auction story, also belonged to.
The pair made £8.13 million, just above the top estimate. Because it is a two-skeleton lot, it is a pair price, not a price per animal.
How we valued it: realised price in pounds as reported from the sale, converted at the rate cited in press coverage. We treat the dollar figure as approximate.
6. Sue, Tyrannosaurus rex: $8.36 million
Sue is one of the most complete T. rex skeletons known and the one that created the modern dinosaur market. The bidding opened at $500,000 and finished in under ten minutes. A Chicago museum bought it with money raised from corporate and private donors.
In 1997 dollars, $8.36 million was a record for any fossil. It stood for 23 years until Stan.
How we valued it: final price with fees in 1997 dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
7. Big John, Triceratops: $7.7 million (€6.6 million)
Big John is the largest Triceratops skeleton on record, found in South Dakota in 2014 and assembled by a workshop in Trieste, Italy. Pre-sale hopes were around $1.4 to $1.7 million.
Ten bidders competed. A US collector won. For three years it was the priciest dinosaur skeleton sold at auction that was not a Tyrannosaurus.
How we valued it: euro price converted at the dollar value reported at the time.
8. Gorgosaurus: $6.1 million
The first Gorgosaurus skeleton to be auctioned is about 22 feet long and 10 feet tall. The skeleton came out of Montana in 2018. The winning bidder also got the right to name it.
This was the first full dinosaur skeleton at Sotheby’s since Sue in 1997, and it opened the 2020s run of seven-figure sales.
How we valued it: price in dollars as announced after the sale.
9. Trinity, Tyrannosaurus rex composite: about $6.1 million (CHF 5.5 million)
Trinity was built from bones of three T. rex individuals found in Montana and Wyoming. Because it is a composite, buyers priced it below what a single-animal T. rex would command.
The hammer price was CHF 4.8 million. With the buyer’s premium the total was CHF 5.5 million. A Belgian art foundation bought it for public display in Antwerp.
How we valued it: total price with buyer’s premium and fees, converted at about the dollar value quoted at the time of sale.
10. Stegosaurus skeleton: about $5.7 million (£4.275 million)
The second big lot in the Jurassic Icons sale was a Stegosaurus skeleton, estimated at £3 to £5 million. It landed in the middle of the range.
A useful marker: a good, mounted Stegosaurus without a record-setting size now trades at a bit over $5 million.
How we valued it: realised price in pounds as reported from the sale results; the dollar figure is approximate.
Records set in 2025 and 2026
Two of the top four prices were set in the last 16 months. The juvenile Ceratosaurus made $30.5 million in July 2025 against a $4 to $6 million estimate. Gus then took the all-time record in July 2026. In March 2026, a Triceratops nicknamed Trey sold for about $5.55 million on an online auction platform, a record for a dinosaur sold online. It just missed this top ten. The Vulcain Apatosaurus, a long-necked skeleton, sold in Paris in November 2024 for €4.7 million before fees.
What drives these prices
- Species rarity: A T. rex or a record-size Stegosaurus draws more bidders than a common Allosaurus.
- Completeness: Bone count matters. Gus is about 61 percent complete, Stan above 70 percent, and composites sell at a discount.
- Estimates are bait: Apex, Gus and the Ceratosaurus all sold far above their estimates. Low estimates attract more bidders.
- Status buying: Sales now run in art and luxury calendars, so dinosaurs compete for the same wealth as paintings and cars.
- Supply is flat: Roughly five dinosaur skeletons come to auction each year, while demand has grown.
Not sold: what Kan tells us about the old market
In December 2016, Kan, a seven-meter Allosaurus about 153 million years old, sold at Aguttes in Lyon for about €1.1 million. The price made headlines then. Today the same type of skeleton sells for several times that figure.
FAQ
What is the most expensive dinosaur skeleton ever sold?
Gus, a Tyrannosaurus rex, sold for $50.1 million at Sotheby’s in New York on July 14, 2026. It is the highest price ever paid for a dinosaur at auction.
Who bought the most expensive dinosaur?
The buyer of Gus was an anonymous bidder, and Sotheby’s did not name them. Most record buyers stay private.
What was the previous record?
Apex, a Stegosaurus, sold for $44.6 million at Sotheby’s in July 2024. Before that, the T. rex Stan held the record at $31.8 million from 2020.
How much does a dinosaur skeleton cost at auction?
It depends on species, size and completeness. In our sales data, strong complete skeletons of lesser-known species start around $4 to $6 million, while a rare T. rex or record-size specimen can pass $30 million.
What happened to Kan the Allosaurus?
Kan sold in Lyon at Aguttes on December 10, 2016, for about €1.1 million at the hammer, which was a bargain next to today’s prices. It is the reason the French market first made headlines.
Why do dinosaur skeletons sell for so much now?
Wealthy buyers treat them as rare objects, like major paintings. Sellers now present them in art-style sales, and the number of fully complete skeletons is tiny.
How we put this list together
We ranked skeletons by the verified price paid at auction, using auction results and disclosed sales compiled in our internal valuation model. Prices are approximate and change as new sales come in.
Keep reading
See our guide to the most expensive pancakes ever made for more extreme price tags.
Last updated: October 2026.
