854) Trilobite, from the Ordovician period (470 million year old fossil) : Second Coin in the "Evolution of Life Coin Series" brought out by Coin Invest Trust on behalf of the Republic of Mongolia in 2016:
Mongolia is famous for its rich fossil record, including dramatic species like Velociraptor - popularised by the Jurassic Park movies.
The "Evolution of Life" Coin Series pays tribute to past eras by portraying extinct prehistoric creatures in luxurious rose-gilded Smartminting relief on an antique finish rock matrix background for silver coins or portrayed on Gold coins.
The first issue in the "Evolution of Life" Coin Series was the "Ammonite" (2015).
The 2016 coin, the second coin issued in the Series featured the Ordovician Period with a stunning, partially excavated tribolite, with the image being based on a real, 470 million year old fossil found near St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Reverse of the Silver 500 Togrog Coin depicting the Trilobite fossil placed against an image of the actual fossil found in St. Petersburg, Russia
The Reverse of the Silver 500 Togrog Coin depicting the Trilobite, placed alongside the photographic image of the actual fossil found in St. Petersburg, Russia
The 2016 coin, the second coin issued in the Series featured the Ordovician Period with a stunning, partially excavated tribolite, with the image being based on a real, 470 million year old fossil found near St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Ordovician Period (440 to 500 million years ago:
The Cambrian period (500 to 600 million years ago, which preceded the Ordovician has left us an especially rich treasure trove of fossils - Invertebrate fossils - particularly the first shell-bearing animals.
The pre-Cambrian age (600 to 4,500 million years ago) had brought the first life forms, that of algae and bacteria. The pre-Cambrian fossils are mostly stromatolites. Very little had changed in the Cambrian period from the Pre-Cambrian times - the Earth's climate was still tropical and without seasons, the salty sea still cradled a single continent of barren rocks.
Of the living forms, the most numerous were the lobster-like Trilobites, which make up no less than sixty percent of all Cambrian fossils. Hard-shelled, multi-legged, these segmented animals assumed a bewildering diversity of forms - some had a dozen eyes, some none; some had huge heads, while others seemed to have none. Almost all were small and the largest of them - the giant of its time - measured about 18 inches from blunt head to stubby tail. All are now extinct.
However, there were other and more promising forms of marine life as well. Some left no fossils, because they were soft-bodied like worms and sponges, but they gave rise to modern day descendants. Others were marked by hard shells like those of clams and snails, while others had shells and forms much like those of present day shrimp.
The calm of the Cambrian ended and the new period - the Ordovician brought with it floods - the greatest the world has ever known.
In the seas that inundated the lands, new opportunities for life constantly arose. Sea-weeds of every description coated the sea floor with a velvety green; the tides streamed through thick forests of slimy fronds; enormous islands of algae grew upon the surface. Organisms that swam or floated near the surface, in the wash of the waves and the cycle of sunlight and darkness, developed life styles different from those in the deeper waters of subdued light and different temperatures.
In the cold depths, there were creatures that adapted to terrific pressures and also glowed in the dark; on the sea floor, others crept about in the soft detirus that drifted down from above.
Some Ordovician organisms like corals, clams, starfish and sea urchins have survived to the present day.
There is also the example of the first true giant of the sea - the nautiloid - which was a mollusc related to a squid - but the nautiloid was protected by a giant hard shell that sometimes grew to a length of about 15 feet.
Still other animals portended omens of the shape of things to come - strange small fish which were the first animals to possess backbones, the vertebrae structure that today supports all the higher life forms - including man.
More about the Trilobites:
Trilobites are a group of extinct marine arachnomorph anthropods that form the class Trilobita.
They are one of the earliest known groups of arthropods.
There first appearance as assessed by fossil records was in the early Cambrian period (around 521 million years ago).
They flourished throughout the lower Palaeozoic era before a drawn out decline to extinction took place during the Devonian period when all trilobite orders except the Proetids died out. Trilobites disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago.
Trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans around 270 million years ago.
Trilobites had many life styles - some moved over the sea-bed as predators, scavengers or filter feeders, while some swam about feeding on plankton. Most life styles seen of present day marine arthropods were seen in trilobites. Some trilobites even had evolved a symbiotic relationship with sulphur-eating bacteria from which they derived their food.
The Coins:
The Obverse of the 1000 Togrog Gold Coin shows the Soyombo emblem of Mongolia in the centre, below which is the denomination of the coin "1000 Togrog". On the lower periphery is mentioned "0.5 gr .9999 GOLD".
The specifications of the Gold Coin are:
Country of issue: Mongolia; Year: 2016; Denomination: 1000 Togrog; Metal Composition: .9999 Fineness Gold (Au); Weight: 0.5 grams; Diameter/Size: 11.0 mm; Coin Quality: Proof; Mintage: 15,000 pieces.
The specifications of the Gold Coin are:
Country of issue: Mongolia; Year: 2016; Denomination: 1000 Togrog; Metal Composition: .9999 Fineness Gold (Au); Weight: 0.5 grams; Diameter/Size: 11.0 mm; Coin Quality: Proof; Mintage: 15,000 pieces.
The Reverse of the 500 Togrog Silver Coin shows the fossil of the Trilobite found in St. Petersburg, Russia. placed on an antique finish rock matrix.
The inscriptions are "TRIBOLITE" "EVOLUTION OF LIFE", "ORDOVICIAN PERIOD", "2016".
The Obverse of the 500 Togrog Silver Coin shows the Soyombo emblem of Mongolia in the centre, below which is the denomination of the Coin "500 Togrog". On the lower periphery is mentioned the metallic composition of the Coin & country of issue - "MONGOLIA, 1 Oz .999 SILVER".
The 500 Togrog Silver Coin placed on its side shows the high relief minting edge of the coin
The specifications of the Silver Coin are:
Country: Mongolia; Year: 2016; Denomination: 500 Togrog; Metal Composition: .999 Fineness Silver (Ag): Weight: 1 Oz; Diameter/Size: 38.61 mm; Coin Quality: Antique Finish; Mintage: 999 pieces.
The elegant custom made wooden box in which the coins are housed, shows an image of the Trilobite and is titled "EVOLUTION OF LIFE 2016"
The four coins issued in the Series so far (2015onwards) - Ammonite, Trilobite, Ichthyosaur and Pterosaur
Other links to interesting posts on Coins brought out by Coin Invest Trust on behalf of other countries:
2) 150th Anniversary of "The Great Tea Race - 1866": Commemorative Coins in the denomination of 10 and 2 Dollars issued by Cook Islands in 2016
3) The Mystical Ancient Egyptian Labyrinth depicted on $10 Silver coins issued by Cook islands in 2016, under its "Milestones of Mankind Series".
4) King Arthur: The first coin in the six coins "Camelot Series".
5) Quilling Art: Silver 2 Dollars coins issued - Flowers (2016) & Bird (2017)
Other links to interesting posts on Coins brought out by Coin Invest Trust on behalf of other countries:
2) 150th Anniversary of "The Great Tea Race - 1866": Commemorative Coins in the denomination of 10 and 2 Dollars issued by Cook Islands in 2016
3) The Mystical Ancient Egyptian Labyrinth depicted on $10 Silver coins issued by Cook islands in 2016, under its "Milestones of Mankind Series".
4) King Arthur: The first coin in the six coins "Camelot Series".
5) Quilling Art: Silver 2 Dollars coins issued - Flowers (2016) & Bird (2017)
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