A triceratops skeleton named “Trey” is set to go up for auction in March, the latest high-profile sale to reflect how quickly dinosaur fossils have become a fixture in the collectibles and investment market. Joopiter, the online auction platform founded by Grammy-winning artist and producer Pharrell Williams, said bids will run from March 17 to 31 and that the fossil has a preauction estimate of $4.5 million to $5.5 million.
Joopiter said the skeleton was recently sold in a private transaction and is now in Singapore, where it will be available for private viewings through the end of March. The company is auctioning a specimen that has spent much of its recent history in the public eye, after it was discovered in Wyoming and later displayed to visitors at a museum.
“Treys” discovery dates to 1993, when the fossil was found near Lusk, Wyoming, by Lee Campbell and the late Allen Graffham, a commercial paleontologist. The skeleton later became a visitor-facing attraction, greeting guests at the 1995 grand opening of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis.
For decades, the dinosaur stood on loan to the center before remaining there until 2023. Its long museum run is part of what makes the planned auction unusual, as many high-end fossil sales increasingly bypass long public displays and move directly from acquisition to private ownership.
Paleontologist Andre LuJan, who worked with Joopiter to prepare the fossil for auction, said that “Trey” has qualities that go beyond its scientific value. LuJan said the fossil “has this cultural aspect that a lot of fossils that go to auction these days just simply don’t have,” adding that “This one is connected to people and undoubtedly has inspired young children who’ve seen it to pursue a career in paleontology.”
Curry Rogers, a paleontologist at Minnesota’s Macalester College who is not involved in the sale, said the market’s heat raises concerns for researchers. She said that public museums are “getting totally priced out of an exploding market,” arguing that if a fossil ends up in a private collection without guaranteed access forever, “that data is essentially lost to science.”
LuJan said he hopes the fossil’s next phase will resemble past examples of privately owned specimens supporting research and public education. He said Trey has always been privately owned and noted that another major auction prize, “Apex” the stegosaurus, is now on display at New York’s American Museum of Natural History after its buyer signed a long-term loan agreement allowing scientists to study it.
The auction adds to a recent run of record fossil prices. In 2024, the remains of “Apex” went for $44.6 million, breaking the previous record of $31.8 million paid in 2020 for “Stan,” a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. The report also cited a separate Sotheby’s sale in which a young dinosaur skeleton exceeded a $4 million to $6 million preauction estimate and ultimately fetched more than $30 million, including fees and costs.
Caitlin Donovan, Joopiter’s global head of sales, said the surge in interest points to a shift away from traditional art-world categories and toward objects valued for “cultural resonance.” She framed dinosaur fossils as investments that appeal not only for their rarity but also for the way they connect to public imagination.