The Ceratopsids are some of the most recognisable of all the dinosaurs, typified by Triceratops, famously depicted in battle with T. Rex. While Triceratops is the most well known, the family is diverse, having a wide range of different frills and horns, and new species are continually being unearthed. One of those is Regaliceratops (Royal horned face), an almost complete skull found in the St. Mary River Formation in Alberta, Canada, in 2005.

Nicknamed ‘Hellboy’, the skull was lacking a lower jaw, but it was clear this was a large animal, estimated at around 5 metres in length, and massing 2 metric tons. It lived in the Late Cretaceous period, not long before the asteroid hit that many suggest ended the reign of the dinosaurs.

The coin is the third in the Royal Canadian Mint’s ‘Discovering Dinosaurs’ series, and continues the style of previous issues. The coin is almost completely plated with black rhodium, including the RCM’s standard obverse. The reverse side is simple enough. The background has a light rock texture, but pride of place goes to an unplated depiction of the skull, by famed Paleoartist, Julius Csotonyi. His work has always resonated here, and some of his books are quite superb.

Outside of that, it is, as we said, a simple enough coin, neatly packaged. The extreme contrast between the rhodium and the silver works extremely well. We like this one.