Last updated on July 10th, 2020 at 03:58 pm
Last Updated on July 10, 2020 Posted by Colonial Acres Coins
The Royal Canadian Mint produces a large number and variety of coins every year. They are responsible for minting all the quarters, loonies, toonies and other coins that are used on a daily basis in Canada. But besides creating all the country’s currency, the Canadian Mint also produces collector’s coins and many of them are truly fascinating and unique. The latest innovation to come from the Mint is a one of a kind egg-shaped, glow-in-the-dark dinosaur coin made of pure silver. This Canadian coin will appeal to anyone who is looking for something different to add to their coin collection as it is not often that such a unique design is seen on the market.
Why a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur coin?
This new coin is a limited-edition collector’s item that commemorates the fact that Devil’s Coulee, in southern Alberta, is one of the few places in the world were actual dinosaur eggs and embryos have been discovered. The first discovery of a complete dinosaur egg was made in 1987 after paleontologists found eggshells in the area and this led them to search for and find fossilized nests, eggs and even embryos of a dinosaur known as the Hadrosaur. The area, which was one of the largest dinosaur nesting sites in North America, is now a dinosaur heritage site and museum.
What is the Hadrosaur Dinosaur?
The Hadrosaur is an herbivorous, duck-billed dinosaur that is part of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae and was one of the most common dinosaurs found in North America during the Late Cretaceous period. The Hadrosaur had a flattened, beak-tipped snout with hundreds of teeth that were perfect for ripping up branches and eating vegetation. An adult Hadrosaur was approximately 30 feet long and weighed as much as 3 tons.
Paleontologists believe that this amazing creature may have returned to the same nesting site year after year and would deposit approximately 26 eggs in a single nest. Each nest was about 20 centimetres in diameter and the hatchlings measure about one meter in length. Similar to modern crocodiles, the nest would have been buried under a mound of vegetation to incubate because the parents were too large to sit on the eggs and the rotting plant matter would have provided the heat to incubate the eggs. The adult Hadrosaur had a hollow crest on top of its head and its bony feature was connected to its airways, allowing it to amplify its call and attract mates from far away.
What makes this coin so special?
Designed by Julius T. Csotonyi, this unique coin is egg-shaped and features a colourful rendering of a young Hadrosauridae as it may have appeared 75 million years ago. The new coin shows the baby Hadrosaur breaking free from its eggshell and the uniquely shaped beak is depicted in profile as the hatchling looks up. The hatchling emerges from its egg against an engraved prehistoric landscape of evergreens, conifers, shrubs, and low plants. But the best thing about this limited-edition collector’s item is the amazing glow-in-the-dark technology that has been incorporated into the design. When you activate the glow-in-the-dark feature the coin reveals a dinosaur skeleton underneath the colourful picture of the hatchling.
This Canadian coin is a collector’s item that was designed to celebrate the nesting ground discovery and is not for circulation. The Mint has only produced 4000 coins to be distributed worldwide and they are only available online. According to the Mint, 95% of their glow-in-the-dark dinosaur egg coins have been sold. Fortunately, the limited-edition glow-in-the-dark Hadrosaur coin isn’t the only dinosaur coin that the Canadian Mint has produced and if you miss out on this unique coin, you can still purchase a set of three 25-cent coins depicting Canada’s dinosaurs.