This fun and dynamic 2014 large format 25 cent collector coin takes us back 375 million years, or about 125 million years before the beginning of the age of dinosaurs.  The coin features a prehistoric animal called the Tiktaalik Roseae, sometimes referred to as the “fishapod”.  When the first fossil of the Tiktaalik was discovered in the Canadian Arctic in 2004, it shed light on a pivotal point in the history of life on Earth – when the first fish were evolving to the point that they could venture out onto land. Mintage is 30,000 coins.

The Design:

The 35 mm coin features two different renditions of the Tiktaalik.  In regular light, the design shows a full colour image of how paleontologist believe the Tiktaalik would have looked when it was alive.  When viewed in the dark, a highly detailed glowing image of the skeleton appears, showing the real elements as we know with certainty.  The design included the word "CANADA," the date "2013," and the face value of "25 CENTS." The image was approved by Alberta’s Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology.