Pop Coins have just issued the second tranche of four coins in their ‘Jurassic Life’ range, following the release of the initial four back in March of this year. Like most of their coins, these are struck to a proof finish, with colour on the reverse face. Each of the Pop Coins series have their own custom border on both faces, and here we have a small border on the reverse face filled with dino footprints, and a larger border on the obverse, featuring profile images of various species. So, having boiled the differences between designs down to the coloured art, what do we have on the four issues here?

The three, one-ounce coins comprise a Velociraptor (the same design as the 2oz coin from Tranche 01), a Tyrannosaurus Rex hatchling, and a Stegosaurus. The 2oz coin this time is the Triceratops artwork from the first group’s 1oz coin. The Velociraptor and Triceratops are attractive designs, which we like a lot, but the Stegosaurus, not so much. The head is more Game of Thrones than reality, the spines didn’t exist (they were plates), the legs and tail are wrong, and the iconic spikey thagomizer on the tip of the tail is missing. I don’t know what the inspiration was here, but a Stegosaurus wasn’t it. Ironically, it’s the only one of the six animals in the range to date, that actually lived in the Jurassic Period.

We didn’t cover the first launch in March, which is weird for a dino-nut like me, but they were a fine mix, with that Triceratops, and the T. Rex being the highlights. The Pterodactyl was good-looking, but anatomically way off the mark. All are boxed with a COA, with tiny mintages of 99 for the one-ounce coins, and just 49 for the two-ounce. Yes, I’ve been harsh on a couple of these, and they’re not really Jurassic animals (blame Jurassic Park for ruining scientific accuracy in that regard), but the reality is, they’re attractive designs for those not so bothered with the real natural history, and who just want a cool dinosaur coin, plus those mintages are compelling.