• The commemorative coin collection features Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon.
• The coin design and packaging illustrations are based on scientifically accurate reconstructions of the prehistoric marine reptiles.
• The prehistoric marine reptiles feature on their very own commemorative 50p coin and are available in gold and in silver colour and non-colour, as well as a special colour printed ‘Brilliant Uncirculated’ edition - exclusively available at The Royal Mint.

The Royal Mint, the Original Maker of UK coins, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum has today launched a new commemorative coin collection celebrating fossil hunter and pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning.

This is the second coin collection in The Royal Mint’s ‘Tales of the Earth’ series celebrating the awe-inspiring ancient creatures discovered here in Britain. The next coin collection shines a light on one of Britain’s greatest fossil hunters - Mary Anning. The first release in the Mary Anning Collection features Temnodontosaurus, one of the largest types of ichthyosaur and an apex predator that once roamed the ocean that covered much of southern Britain. Other coins in the collection will Anning’s discoveries of Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon.

Renowned British paleo-artist and designer of the first Tales of the Earth commemorative coin collection, Robert Nicholls, has brought all three of Mary Anning’s discoveries back to life.  Based on current understanding and the expert guidance of Sandra Chapman of the Earth Sciences Department at the Natural History Museum, each of the coin design’s created by Robert are a scientifically accurate reconstruction of the creatures and the environment that they existed in. By using the latest colour printing techniques, the intricate characteristics of each of the prehistoric marine reptiles have been captured to illustrate accurately how these creatures looked like on Earth millions of years ago, making them appear dynamic and adding a new level of visual fidelity to the coins.

Clare Maclennan, Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint said, “It is an absolute pleasure to continue the popular Tales of the Earth commemorative 50p coin series in conjunction with the Natural History Museum. The next collection in the series celebrates fossil hunter and pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning, with three coin’s featuring Anning’s astonishing discoveries of Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon.

In addition to each of the coin designs being a scientifically accurate reconstruction of the creatures and the environment they lived in, we have combined augmented reality technology with the coins to bring the animals to life through animation and allow people to explore the details of the prehistoric marine reptiles from the comfort of their home.”

Clare Matterson, Executive Director of Engagement at the Natural History Museum said: “We are thrilled to continue working with The Royal Mint on the Tales of the Earth series. The Mary Anning Collection celebrates a pivotal figure in the understanding of palaeontology, important contributions to science that were rarely acknowledged in Mary’s lifetime. It is fantastic to see Mary celebrated in such a special way in 2021.”

Mary Anning was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, in 1799 and spent her entire life in this small seaside town on England’s south coast. Anning’s father Richard had a large family to support and, in order to supplement his modest income as a carpenter, he set up a curiosity table outside their home selling fossils to tourists. It was at this point that she developed an interest in helping her father and amongst the curiosities they discovered were ‘snake stones’ (ammonites), ‘devil fingers’ (belemites) and ‘verteberries’ (vertebrae). Aged only 12 or 13, Anning made her first discovery, an articulated skeleton of an ichthyosaur, a type of marine reptile that once roamed Jurassic seas. From this point forward Anning made a number of astonishing discoveries making her the greatest fossil hunter of the Victorian era.

Designed in conjunction with experts at the Natural History Museum, the augmented reality brings the mighty beasts to life from the comfort of home. To access the augmented reality feature, customers will need to visit The Royal Mint website to unearth exclusive content.

The first coin in the series features Temnodontosaurus and is available in gold and colour and non-colour silver proof editions, as well as a brilliant uncirculated finish and a special colour printed brilliant uncirculated edition, exclusively available from The Royal Mint. Visit www.royalmint.com/MaryAnning to view the full commemorative coin range.

 

Tales of the Earth The Mary Anning Collection 2021 UK Commemorative Coin Specifications

 

Coin title	The Mary Anning Collection - Temnodontosaurus 2021 UK 50p Brilliant Uncirculated Coin	The Mary Anning Collection - Temnodontosaurus 2021 UK 50p Brilliant Uncirculated Colour Coin	The Mary Anning Collection - Temnodontosaurus 2021 UK 50p Silver Proof Coin	The Mary Anning Collection - Temnodontosaurus 2021 UK 50p Silver Proof Colour Coin	The Mary Anning Collection - Temnodontosaurus 2021 UK 50p Gold Proof Coin
Denomination	50p	50p	50p	50p	50p
Issuing Authority	UK	UK	UK	UK	UK
Alloy	Cupro-Nickel	Cupro-Nickel	925 Ag	925 Ag	916.7 Au
Weight	8.00g	8.00g	8.00g	8.00g	15.50g
Diameter	27.30mm	27.30mm	27.30mm	27.30mm	27.30mm
Obverse Designer	Jody Clark
Reverse Designer	Robert Nicholls
Additional Feature	-	Colour	-	Colour	-
Quality	Brilliant Uncirculated	Brilliant Uncirculated	Proof	Proof	Proof
Limited Edition Presentation	Unlimited	50,000	3,000	7,000	250
RRP	£10.00	£20.00	£62.50	£67.50	£1,100.00

 

 

ENDS

 

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About The Royal Mint

The Royal Mint has an unbroken history of minting British coinage dating back over 1,100 years. Based in the Tower of London for over 500 years, by 1812 The Royal Mint had moved out of the Tower to premises on London’s Tower Hill. In 1967 the building of a new Royal Mint began on its current site in South Wales, UK, to accommodate the minting of UK decimal coinage.

Today, The Royal Mint is the world’s largest export mint, supplying coins to the UK and overseas countries.

The Royal Mint has also diversified into a number of other complementary businesses, building on the values that have been at the heart of the organisation throughout its history - authenticity, security, precious metals, craftsmanship and design:

Precious Metals

Throughout history The Royal Mint’s name has been synonymous with precious metals and bullion. The organisation trades physical and digital precious metal worldwide and has a global network of distributor partners.

Consumer coin division

The organisation runs a thriving commemorative coin business, gifting, and a collector services division retailing historic coins, an authentication and valuation service and secure storage.

The Royal Mint Experience

The Royal Mint entered the tourism business in 2016 when it opened its popular visitor centre, The Royal Mint Experience, at its home in Llantrisant, South Wales. The attraction welcomes around 100,000 visitors a year.

The Natural History Museum

Media contact: Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5654/ +44 (0)7799 690151/ Email: press@nhm.ac.uk

 

About the Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is both a world-leading science research centre and the most visited natural history museum in Europe. With a vision of a future in which both people and the planet thrive, it is uniquely positioned to be a powerful champion for balancing humanity’s needs with those of the natural world.

It is the custodian of one of the world’s most important scientific collections comprising over 80 million specimens. The scale of this collection enables researchers from all over the world to document how species have and continue to respond to environmental changes - which is vital in helping predict what might happen in the future and informing future policies and plans to help the planet.

The Museum’s 300 scientists continue to represent one of the largest groups in the world studying and enabling research into every aspect of the natural world. Their science is contributing critical data to help the global fight to save the future of the planet from the major threats of climate change and biodiversity loss through to finding solutions such as the sustainable extraction of natural resources.

The Museum uses its enormous global reach and influence to meet its mission to create advocates for the planet - to inform, inspire and empower everyone to make a difference for nature. We welcome over five million visitors each year, our digital output reaches hundreds of thousands of people in over 200 countries each month and our touring exhibitions have been seen by around 30 million people in the last 10 years.