CIT’s flagship prehistoric nature coin series returns with its tenth issue, and this time it’s a bird, but not any old bird, as this one would do to you, what you do to a chicken nugget… The name ‘Terror Bird’ should give a hint at exactly what the
Phorusrhacidae were, and that was an up to 3-metre tall flightless bird, with a 70 cm long
skull wielding a crushing 46 cm long beak, and able to run at
up to 48 km/h (30 mph). And, it was a carnivore. This was not something on Wile E. Coyote’s menu.

They were an apex predator in large parts of South America, living from 53 to 0.1 million years ago, and were also found in the US, from Texas to Florida – the only known South American large predator to migrate north during the Great American Interchange, when the two continents gained a land bridge through what is now Central America. Fully predatory in nature, with very powerful hooked beaks able to crush and tear prey, they must have been a terrifying sight when running down prey.

It’s likely that they went extinct due to competition from other predators migrating from the North, although this is disputed. Humans aren’t responsible for a change, as they weren’t present in the region at the time of the extinction around 95,000 years ago. Whatever their fate, they were dominant and highly successful in their time, truly worthy of the name ‘Terror Bird’. The closest living relative is the Red-legged Seriema, which, amazingly, is used to guard chickens against predators. It appears that a bad attitude runs in the family…

This has always been a gorgeous series, since way back a decade ago when that iconic ammonite coin debuted, and set the style for the series to follow. The coins are antique-finished, mainly over the background depicting a rock matrix. Sitting proud of that is a high-relief fossil, in this case the skeleton of a Terror Bird, and that’s been fully gilded with rose gold. It’s an aesthetic that works particularly well, and we think the 2024 design is an especially impressive one,

Tagging along, in true CIT style, is a minigold variant, struck in 0.5 grams of fine gold. The design is similar, but different, a consequence of the far more limited volume of metal used, and the resulting 11 mm diameter. It remains recognisably a version of the silver coin. Unlike the silver coin, which comes in a themed display frame, the gold coin is just encapsulated with a certificate of authenticity, although a small and neat box is available as an option. Another outstanding addition to one of the best ever prehistoric life series. We also have a full Coin Series Profile to the range up if you’d like to see and read about the earlier 9 issues.