Phillips to sell rare juvenile Triceratops for up to $3.5M

Phillips Auction House has announced its historic entry into the dinosaur fossil market with the upcoming sale of a rare juvenile Triceratops skeleton named “Cera,” estimated at $2.5 to $3.5 million for its November 18 Modern and Contemporary auction. The move marks a strategic pivot for the auction house as the traditional art market faces its steepest decline in over a decade.artnews

Diversifying Beyond Traditional Art

The 66-million-year-old Triceratops, discovered in South Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation in 2016, represents the first complete juvenile specimen of its kind ever found. Measuring 14 feet in length and comprising two-thirds of its original skeleton, Cera will headline Phillips’ new “Out of This World” section, which features natural history specimens alongside contemporary masterworks.artnews

“Today’s global collectors are increasingly drawn to rare and extraordinary objects that transcend traditional collecting categories,” said Miety Heiden, Phillips’s chairman of private sales, in a statement. “There’s something powerful about the visual dialogue that happens between an awe-inspiring 66-million-year-old lot when presented alongside seminal works from the Modern and Contemporary eras.”artnet

The strategic expansion comes as Phillips faces mounting pressure from a contracting art market. The auction house reported $843 million in global sales for 2024, with auction revenue falling 14 percent to $721 million compared to 2023. Across the industry, fine art auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips dropped 44 percent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2022.artwalkway

Fossil Market Shows Resilience

While traditional art sales struggle, dinosaur fossils have demonstrated remarkable market strength. In July, a juvenile Ceratosaurus sold at Sotheby’s for $30.5 million, five times its pre-sale high estimate. The sale followed the record-breaking $44.6 million purchase of a Stegosaurus skeleton by hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin in 2024.nytimes

Phillips has partnered with Christian Link, a Zurich-based dealer who previously established natural history departments at Koller Auctions, to guide the dinosaur initiative. Link, credited with selling the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton outside the U.S. auction market, brings extensive expertise to Phillips’ natural history venture.artnews

The November sale will also feature other natural specimens, including a gold nugget nicknamed “The Thunderbolt” estimated at $1.5 to $2 million and a 2.5-billion-year-old section of tiger’s eye, hematite, and red jasper valued at $160,000 to $260,000.artnet