Royal Mint Releases Three New 50p Coins With Dinosaurs On Them

The Royal Mint has announced they will bring out a new range of three special 50p coins.

That might not seem that exciting to you straight away, but how about if we told you they've got dinosaurs on them?

Yeah, that's better, isn't it?

The three coins will feature three particular dinosaurs - Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus - and have been designed as part of a special collaboration with the palaeontologists over at the Natural History Museum.

As you can see, the illustrations on them are really good. They're intended to show exactly what the gigantic beasts would have looked like when they roamed the earth 66 million years ago.

If you want to get your grubby mitts on one of these, you'll have to send away for one, as they're not just going to pop up in your chippy change.

These coins are only for collection, so if you want one, you'll have to fork over £10. If you want one of the coloured ones, they're £20.

Basically, they're great, but can't actually be spent as money.

So far, you can only buy the Megalosaurus coin today. The other two are coming in March and April.

Interestingly enough, the coloured ones will also be the first coins ever minted to incorporate augmented reality technology.

When you buy one, you can also get the Royal Mint Activate app and scan the coin for a load of interesting facts and diagrams about the featured creature.

While the normal coins are unlimited in quantity, and therefore unlikely to increase drastically in value, the coloured ones are limited to just 50,000, meaning they could become highly collectable in years to come.

Furthermore, if you're willing to pay a bit more, there's a silver proof version of both the non-coloured and coloured versions available for £60 and £65 respectively.

Or, if you're feeling extra AF, you can buy a gold version for - wait for it - £945.

To be fair, coins are usually a pretty solid investment. In the past we've seen rare versions of the 50 pence piece such as the Beatrix Potter design sell for way more than the actual worth of the coin.

However, as mentioned earlier, it's unlikely the unlimited coins will increase that much, so you'll have to get one of the limited edition ones if you want to speculate to accumulate.

Colin Bellamy of Coin Hunter told The Sun: "This [the coloured coin] is the coin that could well increase in value, especially as it is the first coin in a set of three."

You can purchase the coins here.

Featured Image Credit: Royal Mint

Topics: UK News, Interesting, Weird

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim