Temnodontosaurus 50p (2021)
The Temnodontosaurus 50p opened the Royal Mint's 2021 Mary Anning Collection and was the first UK coin to feature one of Anning's fossil finds. It shows the giant ichthyosaur that was her first such discovery, and it was sold only in collector packs rather than issued into change. It is one of the nine Dinosaur 50p coins and one of the 172 50p designs struck since 1969.
Temnodontosaurus 50p value
- Uncirculated
- typical £10, range £9 to £11
Worked out from 7 published prices (4 dealer prices, 2 sold-price reports and 1 price guide), each condition from its own prices, checked in September 2026.
With no circulation strikes, the Temnodontosaurus 50p is priced as a brilliant uncirculated coin, and how it has been kept is what moves the price. The Royal Mint pack carries facts about fossil reptiles, and dealers also sold the coin in certified cards and plain capsules. A coin that is still sealed and free of marks sits at the top of the range, while one that has been handled or removed from its pack sells for less. The colour edition and the silver and gold proofs are priced separately.
Temnodontosaurus 50p mintage and rarity
The Temnodontosaurus 50p was not issued for circulation, so it has no rarity rank.
How to spot a Temnodontosaurus 50p
Its name is the longest in the set: TEMNODONTOSAURUS runs across the top of the reverse above the reconstruction. Below the animal the coin reads MARY ANNING with a date, and the RN initials of Robert Nicholls sit on the design. The other side shows Jody Clark's portrait of the Queen dated 2021. A colour-printed version of the design was sold by the Royal Mint.
Known varieties of the Temnodontosaurus 50p, all listed among the UK error coins and varieties:
- Colour edition: A colour-printed brilliant uncirculated edition sold only by The Royal Mint; 10,694 were made.
Temnodontosaurus 50p design
The Temnodontosaurus 50p opened the Mary Anning Collection, the second chapter of Tales of the Earth, the dinosaur 50p series the Royal Mint produces with the Natural History Museum. Anning searched for fossils at Lyme Regis in Dorset, on the stretch of shore now called the Jurassic Coast. The first ichthyosaur she found was a Temnodontosaurus, one of the largest ichthyosaurs known and a top predator of the open sea. Robert Nicholls, who had drawn the 2020 Dinosauria coins, returned for this set and worked with Sandra Chapman of the museum's Earth Sciences Department to get the anatomy right. His marine reptile sits in the middle of the reverse, with TEMNODONTOSAURUS lettered above it, MARY ANNING and a date underneath, and his initials RN. Queen Elizabeth II appears on the other side in Jody Clark's fifth portrait, used on all three Mary Anning coins. The coin was released on 25 February 2021, with the Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon following later that year.
It was one of the three coins in the Dinosaur set issued in 2021.
Temnodontosaurus 50p specifications
- Denomination
- 50p
- Year
- 2021
- Type
- Commemorative
- Issue
- Not issued for circulation
- Series
- Dinosaurs
- Occasion
- The Mary Anning Collection (Tales of the Earth), with the Natural History Museum: Temnodontosaurus, Mary Anning's first ichthyosaur find
- Designer
- Robert Nicholls
- Composition
- Cupro-nickel
- Weight
- 8 g
- Diameter
- 27.3 mm
- Shape
- Seven-sided
- Edge
- Plain
- Obverse
- Elizabeth II, fifth portrait by Jody Clark
Temnodontosaurus 50p questions
Who was Mary Anning, named on the Temnodontosaurus 50p?
A fossil hunter from Lyme Regis in Dorset whose finds on the Jurassic Coast the 2021 Mary Anning Collection celebrates. Temnodontosaurus was the first ichthyosaur she discovered.
Was the Temnodontosaurus 50p issued for circulation?
No. It exists only in collector versions: the brilliant uncirculated coin in packs, cards and capsules, plus colour and proof editions.
Is the Temnodontosaurus 50p part of the dinosaur 50p series?
Yes. It is the first coin of the Mary Anning Collection, the second set in the Tales of the Earth series that began with the 2020 dinosaur coins.