A Stegosaurus fossil named Apex that stands at an impressive 11 feet and is 20 feet in length will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York on July 17.
It’s the first time an auction house has handled a dinosaur specimen from discovery to sale. Apex is the largest, most complete Stegosaurus ever found. Sotheby’s collaborated with commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper. The process included discovery, excavation, restoration, preparation, and mounting.
Global Head of Science and Popular Culture, Sotheby’s, Cassandra Hatton told Reuters, “Typically at an auction house, people come to you with the finished product – the Picasso painting comes already done, the book comes already printed back in 1784 – but this was something where we were able to see the process from the discovery up until the installation here. And the reason why that’s so important is that’s how we’re able to guarantee the authenticity of the animal, is actually seeing it come out of the ground, understanding how it was prepared, all of the processes undertaken to get it here so that the buyers know that they’re buying something that’s truly authentic and important.”
Apex was discovered in May 2022 in Colorado’s Morrison Formation and dates back to the Jurassic period, 150 million years ago. Hatton explains, “It wasn’t until February of this year that we had the complete picture of what we were really dealing with. We decided to start working together based on faith that we would find something incredible. It might have just been a skull, we didn’t know, but we just started going and it’s been the most incredible surprise to find out that actually, this is like the best one that’s ever been found.
The fossil is estimated to be worth $4 million to $6 million.
This makes Apex one of the most valuable dinosaur fossils ever auctioned.
