Dinosaur Fossils: A Booming Market and Museum Acquisitions

The market for dinosaur fossils has grown quickly, fueled by a wider interest in dinosaurs and natural history collecting. Dinosaur skeletons now sell for millions of dollars internationally. such as, Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex sold for £24.4 million in 2020 in New York, and Apex the Stegosaurus sold for £34.2 million in July 2024. David Aaron was the first gallery to exhibit dinosaur fossils at major art fairs and has become a leading expert in this field by setting standards for checking if fossils are real, complete, and have a clear history.

Amanda gray, a partner at Mishcon Private, spoke with Salomon Aaron, a Director at david Aaron, a gallery specializing in art from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Near East, and Islamic cultures, and also crucial natural history items like authentic dinosaur fossils. The gallery was first established in 1910 in Iran and became well-known in the 1920s when Soleiman Haroon opened a second location in Alexandria, Egypt. In 1980, the gallery moved to London, and Soleiman’s son, David Aaron, opened his own gallery on Berkeley Square in 1998. David Aaron Ltd is now run by the third and fourth generations of the Aaron family, with a showroom at 25A Berkeley Square.

Amanda and Salomon discussed the market, the detailed work needed to verify fossils, specific intellectual property concerns, and the current excitement surrounding dinosaurs.

You’ve discovered impressive fossils like Chomper, the young T-rex, and had triumphant exhibits at Frieze Masters, including a triceratops. It’s a significant achievement to have one of your dinosaur specimens in the Natural History Museum. Can you tell us about the discovery and journey of Enigmacursor into this important collection?

We learned about the Enigmacursor during an excavation in 2021-2022. The fossil was remarkably complete and well-preserved, so we quickly acquired it. After finalizing the extensive planning of the bones – a process that took nearly 18 months – we presented it to the Natural History Museum. We actively seek to work closely with museums. The curators were very interested and hoped to find a donor to purchase it for the Museum. We exhibited the specimen at Frieze Masters with a reservation, hoping to encourage a private buyer to acquire it for the Museum. ultimately, we convinced a client, who had never bought a dinosaur fossil before, to purchase it on behalf of the Natural History Museum.