New Dinosauria coin collection celebrates the British discovery of dinosaurs.
The Natural History Museum has partnered with The Royal Mint to create The Dinosauria Collection – a new series of coins that celebrate Britain’s contribution to the discovery of dinosaurs.
The first time a dinosaur has featured on an official UK coin, the collection features Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus – the three creatures that led renowned anatomist Sir Richard Owen to coin the term ‘dinosaur’ in 1842.
Sir Richard was the first to discover that the remains of all three species shared common characteristics. This groundbreaking conclusion sparked a public interest in these creatures and our fascination continues to grow to the present day.
Based on current understanding and with the expert guidance of Prof. Paul Barrett from the Earth Sciences Department of the Natural History Museum, the coin designs depict a scientifically accurate reconstruction of the dinosaur and the environment in which it lived.
“We are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with The Royal Mint to bring this fabulous collection to life,” said Maxine Lister, head of licensing at Natural History Museum. “We are very excited to see the story of the discovery of dinosaurs celebrated in this way. This collection is particularly poignant given that Sir Richard Owen, who coined the term dinosaur, was also the founder of the Museum.”
Clare Maclennan, divisional director of commemorative coin at The Royal Mint, added: “We are thrilled to be working alongside the Natural History Museum to launch a new series of commemorative 50p coins featuring Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus.
“We begin the series with Megalosaurus, with the coin’s design being a scientifically accurate representation of the dinosaur and the environment it lived in.”
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter and @licensing_source on Instagram.
