Prehistoric Beast Gold

Ultra-High-Relief Dinosaurs in .9999 Gold

The Prehistoric Beast series from CIT Coin Invest AG is a premium collector programme featuring prehistoric creatures struck using CIT's proprietary Smartminting technology, which achieves ultra-high relief on standard-thickness planchets. The gold version is a 1/10 oz coin in .9999 fine gold, issued as legal tender of Mongolia with a face value in Togrog. The series launched in 2018 and is known primarily for its silver releases (3 oz, .999 fine, with distinctive "Red Rock Finish"), but the gold fractional extends the programme into a more accessible precious metal.

CIT Coin Invest is a Liechtenstein-based numismatic company that commissions striking at B.H. Mayer's Kunstprageanstalt in Munich, Germany, one of Europe's oldest private mints (founded 1871). Mongolia serves as the issuing sovereign authority, a common arrangement for premium numismatic programmes (alongside Palau, Niue, and the Cook Islands). The choice of Mongolia is not arbitrary: the Gobi Desert has yielded more first-described dinosaur species than almost any other region, including the famous "Fighting Dinosaurs" fossil (a Velociraptor locked in combat with a Protoceratops) discovered in 1971.

This series sits firmly in the premium collector segment. Mintages for the silver versions range from 499 to 999 pieces, and the gold would be similarly limited. Pricing is far above metal melt value, reflecting the artistic merit of the Smartminting technology, the low production runs, and the collectible appeal of the dinosaur subject matter. For buyers seeking cost-efficient gold, a generic bar or mainstream sovereign coin is the correct choice. The Prehistoric Beast gold appeals to collectors who value the intersection of palaeontology, high-relief artistry, and small-format gold.

Prehistoric Beast Gold Coin Details

Known Silver Releases (for series context)

Smartminting technology uses higher striking pressure and modified die geometry to achieve relief depths of up to 2 mm on a standard-thickness planchet. Traditional ultra-high-relief coins require thicker blanks, which increases metal cost and limits design flexibility. CIT's approach allows dramatic three-dimensional effects without the weight penalty. The silver versions also feature the "Red Rock Finish," a surface treatment that gives the coin the texture and colour of sandstone, evoking the fossil-bearing Gobi Desert rock. Whether this finish appears on the gold fractional depends on the specific release.

Tax Treatment for Prehistoric Beast Gold Coins

As Mongolian legal tender in .9999 fine gold, the Prehistoric Beast gold coin meets the investment gold criteria in several key markets, though the premium-collector pricing means tax treatment is rarely the primary purchase consideration.

In the United Kingdom, gold coins that are or were legal tender in their country of origin, minted after 1800, and of at least 900 thousandths fineness qualify as VAT-exempt investment gold. The Prehistoric Beast meets all three criteria. Capital gains tax applies at standard rates; no CGT exemption applies since these are not UK legal tender.

In the United States, the .9999 purity and legal tender status should make these coins eligible for precious metals IRAs, though the collector premium makes them an impractical IRA holding (custodians value holdings at melt, not numismatic premium). State sales tax varies; most states exempt precious metals.

In Canada, gold of 99.5%+ purity is GST/HST-exempt. In Australia, the same threshold applies for GST exemption. Singapore exempts Investment Precious Metals of qualifying purity and form. Hong Kong has no sales tax or capital gains tax. The practical reality is that these coins trade at multiples of their melt value due to collector demand, and the tax treatment of the gold content is a minor factor in the purchase decision compared to the numismatic premium.

Prehistoric Beast vs Perth Mint Dinosaurs and Other Premium Series

CIT is the acknowledged market leader in ultra-high-relief numismatic coins, and the Prehistoric Beast series is a showcase for their Smartminting technology. Competing dinosaur-themed coin programmes exist from Perth Mint (Australian Dinosaur series), the Royal Canadian Mint (Dinosaur series), and Germania Mint (Megafauna series covering Ice Age mammals). Perth Mint's dinosaur coins use lower relief and higher mintages, making them more accessible but less artistically dramatic. The Royal Canadian Mint's offerings are typically smaller format with lower individual premiums. Germania Mint's Megafauna series focuses on different subject matter (woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed cats) rather than the Mesozoic reptiles that dominate the Prehistoric Beast range.

The 3 oz silver weight used for the main Prehistoric Beast releases is itself unusual. Most bullion and collector coins come in 1 oz, 2 oz, or 5 oz formats. The 65 mm diameter of the silver version provides a substantially larger canvas than the standard 38-40 mm of a 1 oz coin, which is central to the design impact. The gold 1/10 oz version necessarily sacrifices some of this visual scale, though the Smartminting relief still delivers depth that standard 1/10 oz coins cannot match.

For buyers interested in gold dinosaur coins specifically, the Prehistoric Beast competes with products from several mints, but none match CIT's relief technology. The trade-off is price: at 5-10 times silver melt value (and comparable premiums on gold), these are collector pieces first and precious metal holdings second. A 1/10 oz Gold Maple Leaf or 1/10 oz Britannia contains identical gold at a fraction of the premium.