Stegosaurus 50p (2024)
The Stegosaurus 50p followed the T-Rex as the second release of the Royal Mint's 2024 Iconic Specimens collection, with a design based on Sophie, the Natural History Museum's Stegosaurus skeleton. It went only to collectors, in packs and special editions, rather than into circulation. It is one of the nine Dinosaur 50p coins and one of the 172 50p designs struck since 1969.
Stegosaurus 50p value
- Uncirculated
- typical £12, range £10 to £13
Worked out from 6 published prices (3 dealer prices, 2 sold-price reports and 1 price guide), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
As a collector-only issue, the Stegosaurus 50p is valued on the quality of its brilliant uncirculated finish and on its packaging. A coin still in its Royal Mint pack is the complete item buyers expect; a loose coin, or one with marks across the plates and fields, sells for less. Its colour edition and the proofs in silver and gold are different items altogether, each with its own price.
Stegosaurus 50p mintage and rarity
The Stegosaurus 50p was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.
How to spot a Stegosaurus 50p
Two features identify the Stegosaurus 50p at a glance: the plates running down the animal's back and the spiked tail. The lettering reads STEGOSAURUS over the top and JURASSIC underneath, a period word it shares with the Diplodocus coin, while the T-Rex reads CRETACEOUS. A skeleton stands in the foreground beneath the animal. Its heads side has the Martin Jennings portrait of the King. The Royal Mint also sold a colour-printed edition.
Known varieties of the Stegosaurus 50p, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:
- Colour edition: A colour-printed brilliant uncirculated edition sold by The Royal Mint.
Stegosaurus 50p design
The Stegosaurus 50p is the middle coin of Iconic Specimens, the 2024 collection in the Royal Mint's Tales of the Earth series, and it followed the Tyrannosaurus. Its subject is Sophie, the Natural History Museum's Stegosaurus and the most complete skeleton of the animal ever found. Stegosaurus lived in the Late Jurassic and is best known for the diamond-shaped plates along its back and the four spikes on its tail; it is also famous for a brain roughly the size of a plum. Robert Nicholls again drew the reverse, and the museum's Professor Paul Barrett advised on the science. It shows the animal standing on all four legs with its plates on display, above a skeleton standing in the foreground. The name STEGOSAURUS heads the design, JURASSIC is set beneath and RN marks the artist. Inside, the Royal Mint pack tells the story of the Sophie specimen.
It was one of the three coins in the Dinosaur set issued in 2024.
Stegosaurus 50p specifications
- Denomination
- 50p
- Year
- 2024
- Type
- Commemorative
- Issue
- Not issued for circulation
- Series
- Dinosaurs
- Occasion
- Iconic Specimens collection (Tales of the Earth), with the Natural History Museum: Stegosaurus, based on the Sophie specimen
- Designer
- Robert Nicholls
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel
- Weight
- 8 g
- Diameter
- 27.3 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Charles III, first portrait by Martin Jennings
Stegosaurus 50p questions
Who is Sophie on the Stegosaurus 50p?
Sophie is the Stegosaurus skeleton held by the Natural History Museum in London, the most complete one ever found. The coin's design is based on it.
Could a Stegosaurus 50p turn up in my change?
No. The Royal Mint kept it to collector formats: the standard brilliant uncirculated pack, a colour-printed version and proofs in silver and gold.
How do you tell the Stegosaurus 50p from the other 2024 dinosaur coins?
Look for the plated back, the spiked tail and the name STEGOSAURUS above the animal. The Diplodocus also reads JURASSIC, so the name rather than the period is the check.