A majority of the $308 billion collectibles industry is built on the art of constant flipping. A Pokémon card that sold for $5.2 million will go for over $16 million, depending on market conditions.
Essentially, trades are what keep this industry alive. However, there are a few pieces collectors buy simply for the sake of being statement pieces. Once the purchase is made, it remains in the buyer’s collection forever.
A dinosaur skeleton is one of those pieces.
Sotheby’s put up “Jodi,” a mounted Nanotyrannus skeleton scientifically named Nanotyrannus cf. lancensis. It is from the Late Cretaceous, approximately 67 million years ago.
The estimate Sotheby’s placed on the skeleton ranged from $6 million to $9 million. The final result saw the piece sell for an otherworldly $47.3 million.
Dinosaurs have become the next big thing for the ultrarich. @Sothebys auctioned off “Jodi” the Nanotyrannus this morning.
The high estimate was $9 million.
It sold for $47.25 million! pic.twitter.com/oWreDWIE0D— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 27, 2026
This price tag makes sense when you consider how beautifully the skeleton has been assembled. Uncovered in Montana in 2019, it stands 9 feet 6 inches tall and measures 19.6 feet from nose to tail. The skeleton reportedly consists of 191 ‘bone elements’.
Its axial skeleton looks to be in exceptional shape, with 6 cervical, 11 dorsal, 5 sacral, and 15 caudal vertebrae. Complementing this are 15 cervical ribs, 25 dorsal ribs, 10 chevrons, along with several of the ‘belly ribs’ that are quite rare to find on skeletons from such a long time ago.
This Skeleton Was Close To Making History
At $47.3 million, this Nanotyrannus skeleton came close to dethroning the most expensive skeleton ever sold publicly, “Gus,” a Tyrannosaurus rex.
“Gus” sold this past July for a whopping $50.1 million. Discovered on a private South Dakota ranch in 2021, he stands 12.5 feet tall and is 38 feet long. It commanded such a price tag also because it was 61% complete, which is practically unheard of.
Another monumental sale for a skeleton took place in July 2024 when Citadel billionaire Ken Griffin bought “Apex,” the skeleton of a stegosaurus, for $44.6 million.
Excavated by Jason Cooper in 2022, it dates back to about 161 million years ago i.e., the late Jurassic period, stands 11 feet tall, and is 27 feet long.
It’s clear that there are few and far between items on the collectibles market that could rival the entirety of a dinosaur’s skeleton in terms of value. And understandably so.
It would be quite an issue if a trading card managed to eclipse titanic items such as these at auction.
