FOSSILS AS AN INVESTMENT

Most people who become interested in fossils do not collect them for their investment merits, but most will admit that their collection has proven to be an excellent investment.

Prices for fossils are rising rapidly, driven by the growing number of admirers interested in acquiring these ancient artifacts for their home, office, or commercial environment. Auction houses are moving to take advantage of this burgeoning demand, with both Christies & Bonhams hosting auctions of such fossil pieces. The auction market is currently worth around 6 million pounds, small, when compared with an annual worldwide market of hundreds of millions of pounds.

Important museum quality specimens have always commanded a high price tag of millions of dollars, such as the almost perfect Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in the FIeld Museum of Chicago, which sold at auction in 1997 for $8.36 million (see previous article).

New buyers are often attracted to the aesthetics of fossils, and display them as natural art, drawn to what is truely unique. Prizing such objects may be nearly as old as man himself, as trilobites have been unearthed at a 10,000 year old Cro-Magnon site in France.

As an example, one collector, who also happened to be the chief investment officer for Advisors Capital Management in New Jersey, USA, first got into fossil collecting in a small way. However, he now has a wonderful fossil collection, and one of his prized possessions is a fossilised fish from the Green River Formation, Wyoming, bought 15 years ago for £2,000, and now worth £15,000. Many stars of the Big Screen are avid fossil collectors, often trying to outbid each other on exceptional pieces. They buy not only for their investment value, but also for their rarity and beauty.

Many other fossils demonstrate the same growth potential as the Wyoming Fish. Recently a Sabre Tooth Cat skull, bought for a few thousand dollars several years ago, sold at Bonhams Natural History Auction for £12,000, showing an amazing return on the original investment.

The market value of some high quality fossils has doubled or trebled in the last decade. For example, the value of large Madagascan Ammonites has increased from around £1,200 ten years ago, to a present day value of £4,000, and medium quality sabre cat skulls that could be purchased for £2,500 are now selling for £7,500. All fossils will grow in value over the years, and the more unique, higher value, the fossil, the more it will escalate in price.

Buying fossils is becoming much more difficult. Government officials now closely scrutinise imports and exports, and every day more collecting sites are closed to the fossil hunters. This is also a driving force in the growth of fossil values.
Fossils are a finite resource, and every one is individual, never to be repeated.

In summary:

As a straightforward investment opportunity fossils outperform many other options
It is a low maintenance investment
Fossils are beautiful and a unique piece of natural art