Coins mark discoveries of fossil hunter Anning
WESTCOUNTRY fossil hunter and palaeontologist Mary Anning is being celebrated in a new commemorative coin collection from the Royal Mint, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum.
The first release in the Mary Anning 50p coin collection features temnodontosaurus, a large-jawed predator which once roamed the oceans.
Clare Maclennan, divisional director of commemorative coins at the Royal Mint, said: “It is an absolute pleasure to continue the popular Tales of the Earth commemorative 50p coin series in conjunction with the Natural History Museum. The next collection in the series celebrates fossil hunter and pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning, with three coins featuring Anning’s astonishing discoveries of temnodontosaurus, plesiosaurus and dimorphodon.
“In addition to each of the coin designs being a scientifically accurate reconstruction of the creatures and the environment they lived in, we have combined augmented reality technology with the coins to bring the animals to life through animation and allow people to explore the details of the prehistoric marine reptiles from the comfort of their home.”
Despite her extraordinary discoveries, Anning’s achievements were often overlooked by a scientific world dominated by men.
She was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, in 1799 and spent her life in the small seaside town on England’s south coast.
Her father, Richard, had a large family to support and, in order to supplement his modest income as a carpenter, he set up a curiosity table outside their home, selling fossils to tourists.
She developed an interest in helping
her father and amongst the curiosities they discovered were “snake stones” (ammonites), “devil fingers” (belemites) and “verteberries” (vertebrae).
Aged around 12, Anning discovered an articulated skeleton of an ichthyosaur, a type of marine reptile, sometimes nicknamed a “fish lizard”, that once lived in the Jurassic seas. Anning died at the age of 47. Kate Winslet plays Anning in the film Ammonite.