Dinosaurs continue to capture our most vivid imagination, and few animals of prehistoric times are more fascinating than the Tyrannosaurs. 12 million years before the Tyrannosaurus Rex, one of its great ancestors roamed what is now Alberta. This 2021 $20 fine silver coin features the imposing fossilized skull and jaws of the Thanatotheristes degrootorum, or “Reaper of Death”, a species of tyrannosaur only presented to the world in 2020.

Black rhodium plating around the dinosaur skull gives the image a hint of the sense of danger and trepidation that must have been felt by huge carnivore’s prey. Beneath the black rhodium plating, the engraved rock texture represents the formation in which the fossil fragments were found. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

The coin weighs one ounce of pure silver and has a mintage limited to just 7,500. HST/GST exempt.