NEW YORK | One of the most complete T-Rex specimens in the world was sold for $ 31.8 million on Tuesday at a sale hosted by Christie’s in New York, quadrupling the record for a dinosaur at auction.
The Big Predator made short work of the initial estimate proposed by Christie’s, of between 6 and 8 million dollars, demonstrating once again, if it were needed, the power of attraction possessed by the T. -Rex.
He shredded the all-time record in the matter, set by Sue, another T-Rex sold in October 1997 at Sotheby’s for $ 8.4 million at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Only about fifty T-Rexs have been discovered since the first one, in 1902.
The nine million dollars were reached in less than two minutes, but it took nearly 14 in total to decide between the three collectors still on the track, with a final hammer blow to $ 27.5 million, to which were added fees and commissions.
The sale was organized in New York, where the auctioneer was located, but with two branches in Hong Kong and London where Christie’s specialists took calls from collectors.
It was also two buyers who passed through London who animated the sale, with a collector in New York who in particular broke the thresholds of 20 and 25 million dollars.
Stan, 4 meters tall, 12 meters long, as he was baptized, weighed seven to eight tons during his lifetime, according to specialists.
67 million years old, it was discovered in 1987 near Buffalo, South Dakota.
Paleontologists at the Geological Research Institute in Black Hills, South Dakota, spent more than 30,000 working hours digging it up and reconstructing its 188-bone skeleton.
It has since been used in casts intended for dozens of museums around the world, eager to acquire a copy of this exceptional Tyrannosaurus Rex, who died at the age of twenty, according to researchers’ estimates.
Ironically, the sale provides that the purchaser will not have the right to reproduce Stan in three dimensions.
The sale takes place following a dispute between the directors of the institute.
The law authorizes the sale when the specimen has been discovered on private land, which is the case here.
“There are not many complete skeletons,” had explained to AFP, before the sale, James Hyslop, head of the department of scientific instruments, globes and natural history at Christie’s in London.
“Opportunities to acquire such a complete T-Rex only appear once per generation,” assured the specialist, who took orders during the sale of the collector who won it.
“It would become the centerpiece of any natural history museum,” said James Hyslop.
“The T-Rex has the status of an icon,” he said, which is reflected in its price. “It’s THE dinosaur that draws the crowds. “
Stan is on display in one of the windows at Christie’s headquarters in New York City until October 21.
The head being too heavy, a replica was placed on the skeleton. The real one is presented alongside.