The Royal Mint Has Released A Series Of Dinosaur-Inspired 50p Coins

Alex Landon - Editor • 1 June, 2020

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Turn your wallet into Jurassic Park with these dinosaur coins.

For us perennially cash-strapped millennials, being able to collect money of any sort is a novelty, but when freakin’ dinosaur coins start hitting circulation, you know you’re going to want to hoard the hell out of them. The Royal Mint have unveiled three new 50p coins for a new series called The Dinosauria Collection, each of which features a fearsome dinosaur on them.

The 50p coins have been unveiled to celebrate the UK’s contribution to the discovery of dinosaurs, and were created with the help of experts from London’s Natural History Museum. The museum’s founder, Sir Richard Owen, coined (pun very much intended) the term “dinosauria” to describe the creatures whose fossilised remains had been found in England: Iguanodon, Megalosauras, and Hylaeosaurus, the trio of dinosaurs which now appear on the coins. You’ll also spot the names ‘Buckland’ and ‘Mantell’ on the 50p pieces, in tribute to William Buckland and Gideon Mantell, two British palaeontologists instrumental in analysing these fossils.

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Quite apart from the fact that they look badass, the 50p coins have made history in a number of ways. They’re the first UK coins to feature dinosaurs on them, make use of cutting-edge colour printing techniques, and they mark the first time that the Royal Mint has used augmented reality technology to bring their coins to life. Yes, the dinosaurs will live again: if you scan the packaging using the Royal Mint’s AR app, you’ll be presented with clips, images, and facts about the dinosaur on your coin.

This is some seriously cool currency, isn’t it? Plus, even if you don’t plan on collecting and scanning the coins, they’ll make for a pretty badass game of heads or tails…

Find out more about The Dinosauria Collection and purchase your coins here.