New silver coin from Niue marks 25 years since Jurassic Park amazed moviegoers

Few movies have turned heads like Jurassic Park did on its release in 1992. The simple story of a theme park gone awry, the use of state-of-the-art CGI (Computer Generated Imaging) for the rendering of the dinosaurs lifted it to something special. With such names as Steven Spielberg, Stan Winston, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum involved, a big budget was attracted and it seems like every cent is up there on screen. It’s incredible to think that the special effects, something almost taken for granted today, were done a couple of years before the original Sony Playstation was launched.

With the current upsurge in popular-culture coins hitting the market, we’re not surprised to see one celebrating 25 years since Jurassic Park was released. Neither are we surprised that is fell to the New Zealand Mint to do the honours, given their experience in the genre. They have a favoured format for their releases, the NZ Mint are really great experimenters, and that is the one-ounce fine silver coin with selective colour – as employed here.

The Jurassic Park logo is instantly recognisable, so a good decision to use it for the design of the coins reverse face. We’d have liked to have seen something a little more adventurous, but as a first issue (we don’t yet know if more will follow), it’s a sensible first step to judge demand. The antique finish is a nice touch. The obverse carries the usual Ian Rank Bradley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, surrounding which are the rquired coin inscriptions.

The coin is presented in a black coin box, much like those used for the Star Wars coins and is supplied with a serialised certificate of authenticity. The outer shipper is well themed and will be recognised by everyone. Available today, t will sell for $85.00 USD and has a mintage of 10,000.

2018 JURASSIC PARK 25TH ANNIVERSARY SILVER COIN

JURASSIC PARK: THE MOVIE

Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Gerald R. Molen. The first installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, it is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton and a screenplay written by Crichton and David Koepp. The film is set on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, located off Central America’s Pacific Coast near Costa Rica, where a billionaire philanthropist and a small team of genetic scientists have created a wildlife park of cloned dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs were created with groundbreaking computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light & Magic and with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs built by Stan Winston’s team. To showcase the film’s sound design, which included a mixture of various animal noises for the dinosaur roars, Spielberg invested in the creation of DTS, a company specializing in digital surround sound formats. Following an extensive $65 million marketing campaign, which included licensing deals with 100 companies, Jurassic Park grossed over $914 million worldwide in its original theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film ever at the time, a record held until the 1997 release of Titanic. It was well received by critics, who praised its special effects, John Williams’ musical score, and Spielberg’s direction. Following its 3D re-release in 2013 to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Jurassic Park became the 17th film to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales, and the film ranks among the 30 highest-grossing films ever.

The film won more than twenty awards, including three Academy Awards for its technical achievements in visual effects and sound design. Jurassic Park is considered a landmark in the development of computer-generated imagery and animatronic visual effects, and was followed by three commercially successful sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), and Jurassic World (2015). A fifth film, titled Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is scheduled for a June 2018 release.

SPECIFICATION

NAME 2018 JURASSIC PARK
DENOMINATION $2 New Zealand
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 31.1 grams
DIAMETER 40.00 mm
FINISH Antique
MODIFICATIONS Colour
MINTAGE 10,000
BOX / COA Yes / Yes
NEW ZEALAND MINT