"Fossilised" auction a good way to deal with old age

“Fossilised” might be a good way of describing E.J. Ainger’s forthcoming auction from 9.30am Tuesday September 10 at 433 Bridge Road, Richmond.

Not that the auction house is so old that its remains have gentrified, it is just that a collector has decided to part with his fossil collection and entrusted Aingers to conduct the sale.

Some of the fossils date back 120 million years to the Cretaceous Age and feature Ammonite specimens from Madagascar.

Others are a collection of 40 million-year-old shark teeth from a large predator named Otodus.

This shark grew to 10 metres – much bigger than a modern day Great White – and as an apex predator would have terrorised other marine animals in coastal seas.

In keeping with the “ancient” auction theme, there are coins from China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in the name of Emperor Li Yuan.

Their general style was the same as the preceding Wu Shu era, weighing between two and a half and four grams.  

The auction also reflects Aingers growing diversity into jewellery sales with a comprehensive selection from which buyers can choose – along with several bronze sculptures including figures in full medieval armour and marble bookends imported from France.