Dinosaurs may soon be roaming the streets of London — at least with the coins we spend.

A 50p collectable coin is being issued by the Royal Mint, collaborating with the Natural History Museum, that features the iconic leaf-eating ‘Sophie’ Stegosaurus in a series of three coins showing prehistoric giants.

These include the Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus and Diplodocus, each meticulously designed by palaeontology-artist Robert Nicholls with guidance from the museum.

“I started drawing dinosaurs as soon as I could hold a pencil,” Robert explains. “I have dedicated my life to bringing extinct animals back to life through art — it’s my obsession.

“Working with long-dead animals is special and having a chance to create coins for the Royal Mint, with royal approval.” 

The new 50p coin pays tribute to the Natural History’s own specimen fondly-referred to as ‘Sophie’, the world’s most-complete Stegosaurus skeleton ever discovered.

Sophie roamed the Earth 200 million years ago and now, at last, has her face on a British coin. She has helped palaeontologists answer questions about this species for more than a century.

The collectable series start from £12 with colour versions also available on the “royalmint.com” website.