January 8, 2015 – Australia’s most complete carnivorous dinosaur, Australovenator, is the first creature to inhabit The Perth Mint’s incredible new coin series – Australian Age of Dinosaurs.
Australia/ 1 AUD/ 1 oz Silver 99.9/ 40.6 mm/ Designer: Tom Vaughan/ Mintage: 5,000.
Struck from 1oz of 99.9% pure silver, this Australian legal tender coin features the fierce theropod dinosaur set against a colourful prehistoric scene, while the obverse of the release portrays the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the 2014 year-date, and the monetary denomination.
“The Perth Mint is delighted to be transporting coin collectors on a 100 million year journey back to the Cretaceous Period with the release of this fantastic coin program,” said Perth Mint Sales and Marketing Director, Ron Currie.
Fossils of Australovenator were discovered in 2009 in what was once an ancient billabong near Winton, western Queensland. The discovery which includes the greatest concentration of dinosaur bones ever found in Australia to date was made by the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, a not-for-profit organisation that is spearheading dinosaur discovery and research projects in outback Australia.
Vertebrate palaeontologist, Dr Scott Hocknull and colleagues described the animal as a ferocious killer, built for speed with massive hand claws and razor-sharp teeth.
Artistic representations of Australovenator wintonensis. Artwork: T. Tischler, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History /http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/deed.en.
Studies of the bones have revealed that Australovenator is a unique species to Australia. However, it shares many features with theropod dinosaurs found around the world, including Allosaurus (United States of America), Fukuiraptor (Japan), Megaraptor (Argentina) and Neovenator (United Kingdom).
Forming part of an ongoing series, to be released throughout the next 12 months, collectors can enjoy coin designs of other Australian dinosaurs such as Diamantinasaurus, Leaellynasaura, Minmi, and Muttaburrasaurus.
This coin can be purchased by visiting The Perth Mint Shop.
Collectors can also purchase the coin from leading coin dealers, Australia Post outlets and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum website.
Dinosaurs seem to be quite the numismatic trend at the moment. Austrian Mint has also recently released a new coin in its popular “Back from the dead” dinosaur series.