- Country:Canada
- Collection:Silver Commemorative $20
- Metal:Silver
- Year:2018
- Denomination:$20
- Finish:Complete
- Weight (oz):1.02
- Purity:0.9999
- Mintage:5500
- Product type:Coin
With its serrated teeth and imposing stature, it's easy to imagine the carnivorous Gorgosaurus living up to its "fierce lizard" name! This tyrannosaur's articulated remains are faithfully reproduced on our newest addition to the Ancient Canada series of antiqued, splash-struck coins. Take a close look at the reverse, where the mix of engraving and finishes realistically capture the time-worn look and feel of fossils preserved in sandstone-just like those recovered from Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park!
Back by popular demand. Now a third coin in the AncientCanada series! Order today!
Special features:
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Two more coins have been added to our wildly popular Ancient Canada series, which had collectors clamouring for more!
EACH ONE IS UNIQUE! Struck using an old coin-minting technique, each coin may vary in size: it may be larger or flatter, but it will always have a minimum diameter of 38 mm!
UNUSUAL SHAPE AND RIMLESS! Your coin does NOT have a rim: instead, the 99.99% pure silver was allowed to "spill" out to give this coin a slightly irregular shape-just like an ancient Roman coin!
HIGH ATTENTION TO HISTORICAL ACCURACY! Verified by the Royal Tyrrell Museumof Palaeontology, the design features precision engraving that realistically mimics the timeworn look and feel of fossils embedded in sandstone.
ANTIQUED! Adding to the engraved textural details, a beautiful patina finish gives the coin an antiqued appearance that reflects the series' theme, while the prehistoric-looking font adds to the "lost in time" feel of it all!
NO PLASTIC CAPSULE! The coin's irregular shape means it will not fit in a typical plastic capsule-instead, the coin comes packagedin a ready-to-display floating frame! Measuring 80 mm x 80 mm x 34 mm, the framed presentation transforms this into one-of-a-kind wall art and a sure conversation piece, since the fossils will appear to be "embedded" in your wall!
SEALED IN LACQUER! The antique finish is sealed in lacquer, which should minimize the appearance of fingerprints if the coin is accidentally removed from its frame.
INCLUDES SERIALIZED CERTIFICATE! Regardless of special packaging, the Royal Canadian Mint certifies all of its collector coins! Most of these are serialized certifications, where the certificate included with the coin is given a unique number beginning with 1.
VERY LOW MINTAGE! Set to 5,500 coins worldwide, this limited collectible is sure to be highly sought after due to the nature of its theme and beauty-a must-see/must-have!
ONE-OUNCE 99.99% PURE SILVER COIN! Your coin has no GST/HST!
Design:
Your coin design is based on fossils curated at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta, and has been reviewed for scientific accuracy by palaeontologists at the Museum. Reproduced on a smaller scale, the articulated skeleton of a juvenile Gorgosaurus libratus fills most of thereverse; it is depicted in a classic death pose, with legs folded beneath the torso and the neck bent back towards the tail, while the jaw is lined with a fearsome set of sharp teeth. The combination of precision engraving and special finishes result in an eye-catching contrast between the smooth, timeworn look of the polished fossils and the rock-like texture of their "sandstone" encasement. The rimless coin's unusual contour is the result of an old coin-minting technique, which allows the fine silver to "spill" out and form an irregular shape reminiscent of an ancient Roman coin. The patina finish and a prehistoric-looking font further add to the coin's antique appearance. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth IIby Susanna Blunt.
Did you knowÃ
Gorgosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, between 77 and 75.5 million years ago. It is thought to have lived at the same time as the more robust Daspletosaurus-one of the few known instances of co-existing tyrannosaurids!
The name Gorgosaurus was inspired by Greek mythology-specifically the Gorgons, the sisters with venomous snakes for hair, who could turnanyone to stone if they looked at them.
Only one species Gorgosaurus species is known: G. libratus, whose name is the past participle of the Latin verb librare, "to balance."
It likely preyed upon hadrosaurs, ceratopsids, even Ornithomimus-the ostrich-mimic dinosaur depicted on the first coin in our Ancient Canada series!
Recovered from Dinosaur Provincial Park in 1991, the skeleton depicted on the reverse is remarkably complete: more than 95% of its bones were still in place!
The remains of many dinosaurs, and even birds, have been found in a similar position as the Gorgosaurus on your coin; known as a "death pose", the skeleton is positioned in a way where the jaw is open and the head and tail are curved back above the spine. Long a subject of scientific debate, the cause for this Gorgosaurus's death pose is now believed to be the result of decomposition under water.
