Thank you for your interest in acquiring a dinosaur fossil specimen collected and prepared by our team. This page will give you some basic information about acquiring a dinosaur fossil specimen from us.
- Major Scientifically Important Specimens: These are specimens that we believe will significantly add to the understanding of a specific species of dinosaur. These specimens are reserved for museum acquisition first and foremost. By allowing a public institution to acquire these extremely rare fossils, it promotes the science of paleontology. We will always allow this type of fossil to these institutions first. This process can take years but we believe it is the right way. We will always note this under our Current Projects page for each of our projects available. If no museum is interested at any cost, we may then make it available to the general public, but to date, that has never happened, which is a great thing! CK Preparations has been providing Major Scientifically Important specimens to public institutions for over 14 years, odds are you have seen them or read about them. From new Taxa and Species to specimens from known species that furthers the understanding of that particular dinosaur. We are very proud and honored to be a part of that process. We will continue that endeavor throughout our companies future.
Attention Research Institutions:
CK Preparations has been providing specimens or elements to ongoing research projects since our inception. Some Paleontology Journals do not accept research from fossils not in the "Public Trust", but many do not have this mindset, but focus more on having all data available. With that, CKP has provided specimens to many University and Museum projects for research over the years. There is no charge for this service. We have a great relationship with our local hospital to allow for CT and MRI along with X-Ray services. We can help coordinate all those logistics. If your Institution has a current research project and you see something on our website that might add to that research, don't hesitate to contact us. Again, no charge! If there is a research project you have and think we might be able to help with, again, contact us. We have also assisted with many geology related projects that only need access to certain field localities, we are always more than willing to help in that effort.
- Non-Scientifically Important Major Specimens: These are partial or complete specimens that are not scientifically important. This does occur. These specimens are spectacular in their own right, but, they are not important enough to add new information to the science of paleontology. These specimens are still offered to public institutions for exhibition in their museum but also offered to the general public.
- Individual Elements: Our groups collects hundreds of great individual elements from dinosaurs in our channel sites like "Old Faithful" and through prospecting. These can be teeth, claws, vertebra, ribs, etc. These do not add to the science of paleontology but are excellent for collectors that want to enjoy and share with others. These individual elements can inspire and make beautiful displays of earths wonderous history. Whether is a piece of a dinosaur bone or a perfectly preserved Tyrannosaurus rex tooth, they are all great to us and collectors.
We are currently working with our broker to help make online requests for individual fossil elements much easier. Our specimens are normally offered at fossil shows a few times a year, but we also want to be able to offer them to those that do not attend those shows due to the requests we have been getting. This may take us some time, but we are on it. We will post here and on our main page when that service is available.
Some basic costs and information of individual elements:
We get a lot of requests for basic elements. We wanted to give those interested in this type of acquisition some basic costs if wanting to purchase from our team. We do run all purchases though our exclusive Broker. In order to help him fulfill your needs, we try to give a customer some basic information so they know what to expect.
- Purchasing an element online can be a real confusing task. We know and understand this. Some sellers do not have proper identification, may have illegally collected, may not have prepared professionally to ensure the fossil is stable and will last, the list can go on and on. Know that when you purchase a specimen from our team, all of this and more are ensured. One thing we do suggest to a new or seasoned collector, is to be very cautious about purchasing fossils that come from outside of the United States. Dinosaur fossils from other countries can bring a variety of issues, it is up to the buyer to really research what they are buying and the legalities of it. Montana is the only state in the United States that has a law established on Dinosaur Fossils found on Private Land (HB 229) passed in 2019.
- Basic Costs to Expect from our specimens: Our major requests are for teeth and claws. These are the most collectable elements of a dinosaur and therefor are the most expensive due to their supply and demand. A Tyrannosaurs rex tooth usually costs around $1000.00 per inch but dramatically increases when you get above 3 inches for a tooth in near perfect condition. A Tyrannosaurus rex foot claw will range at least $15,000.00 or more. Large raptor claws like Oviraptor, Dromaeosaur, and Nanotyrannus will be close to that figure. Smaller theropod teeth will range from around $50.00 to upwards of $1500.00. Herbivore teeth (Like Triceratops $45 - $250) and claws will be less. We just want to give a new collector an idea of what to expect. If after reading and understand this basic outline for fossil acquisition, and you are interested in a purchase, please email us and we will put you in contact with our broker.
We will continue to add to this page as we get more questions via email. Always feel free to email us if this page does not help answer your questions. We try our best to personally answer every email. We are in the field a lot during the summer months, so there may be a delay in our response time.