Moa skull Trade Me auction sparks conflict

Glen Brady with the moa skull he's selling on Trade Me. Photo / Christine Cornege

The auction of a moa skull on online auction site Trade Me has sparked heated debate, with some users questioning whether the artefact should be in a museum.

But the seller, Glen Brady of Hamilton, who trades under the name "construct11", has defended the sale of the skull.

Mr Brady said the skull was discovered by his father in the 1950s while working for a bridge company in the Waitomo area.

"My father died a few months ago. He left the skull to me," he said. "It has been in a cupboard for many years."

Mr Brady said he was selling the skull to raise money towards buying a house.

"I'm loathe to sell it. I'd like to keep it but it is the difference between getting into a house and not getting into a house," he said.

"It is a very treasured possession, but it is a possession that will possibly change my life."

The skull, belonging to the extinct Anomalopteryx didiformis, is 145mm long, 80mm wide and 65mm high.

Several comments on the online auction are critical of the private sale of the artefact, imploring Mr Brady to sell or donate the skull to a museum.

However, Mr Brady replied museums "have enough of their own" and it would only be "put away in a box".

"Ninety-nine per cent of what museums have we will never get to see," he said.

He consulted Webb's auction house managing director Neil Campbell prior to placing the auction, who told him the artefact was very rare. Mr Brady was not too sure how much the skull was worth on the market.

"I personally don't think $10,000 is too bad," he said. "I've never seen a moa skull on Trade Me before."

Mr Brady said he was waiting on written confirmation of the authenticity of the skull from Te Papa palaeontologist Alan Tennyson.

Te Papa spokeswoman Jane Keig would not comment on the Trade Me sale or on the private sale of moa bones in general.

While she confirmed most of the museum's moa remains are not on display, the museum does have two skeletons on display and doesn't have the space to display all its moa remains.

She said the museum had around 100 full and partial moa skulls.

"The primary purpose of the artefacts is for scientific research," Ms Keig said.

The sale ends at 12.51pm tomorrow and is yet to reach its $10,000 reserve.