Senior museum figures are campaigning for fossils to be classed as national treasures, according to the Waverley criteria. These criteria control the export of objects considered culturally important to the nation, but the current rules only cover natural treasures that are “made”, thereby excluding fossils.
These calls follow the sale of a private collection of 318 fossils from the Jurassic Coast to the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi for a reported eight-figure sum. Both the Natural History Museum in London and Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales) were offered the collection but lacked the necessary funds.
The value of fossils is reportedly increasing, with a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex fossil named Gus setting new records at a Sotheby’s auction in New York last month. Another T-rex, Stan, was acquired by the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi in 2022.