Rare T-rex skeleton named ‘Trinity’ sells for $6.1M

The near-complete composite of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton dubbed “Trinity” sold for $6.1 million at an auction in Zurich, Switzerland.

The T-rex skeleton, standing 12.8 feet high and 38.1 feet long, is composed of 293 bones from three different dinosaurs, hence its name.

The Koller auction house, where Trinity was sold on Tuesday, noted that it was the first time such a skeleton went up for auction in Europe, with the bones going to an unnamed private collector.

Although the buyer paid $5.3 million for the skeleton, the added premium and fees brought the total sales price up to more than $6 million, within the range the auction house was aiming for.

“It’s a fair price for the dino,” said Karl Green, the auction house’s marketing director. “I hope it’s going to be shown somewhere in public.”

Green noted that because Trinity was a composite, “purists” likely didn’t bid on the skeleton.

The skeleton was one of the main focuses of the auction, which featured some 70 items, and during the bidding process, Trinity’s skull was set up next to the auctioneer’s podium.

The skull was a particular point of interest for buyers as it was remarkably well-preserved, Koller said.

Nils Knoetschke, a scientific adviser who was quoted in the auction catalog, wrote that most dinosaurs are typically found without their skulls.

Trinity was formed from three different fossil sites in the US, and it was put up for sale by an anonymous American.

At least half of the skeleton came from one T-rex.

Two of the sites where Trinity’s bones were discovered were also used to form other T-rex skeletons that were previously auctioned off, Koller noted.

In 2020, New York’s Christie’s auction house sold another near-complete T-rex named “Stan” for $32 million, setting a new record for a dinosaur sold.

The T-rex, whose name means tyrant lizard king, roamed the Earth between 65 million and 67 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, which ended with the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Researchers believe that about 20,000 adult T-rexes lived in North America before they were wiped out.