The black rhodium background represents the hidden or unknown past. This dark design element keeps the focus on the engraved fossils that have helped paleontologists piece together the story of prehistoric Canada.

The fossil depicted on your coin has been verified forscientific accuracy by the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.

Beneath the rhodium plating on your coin’s reverse, the engraved texture represents the thrill of discovery: it resembles the rock formationin Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park, where a Mercuriceratops skull fragment was found.