An Albertosaurus was first discovered when Joseph B. Tyrrell found the fossilized skull within six kilometres of The Royall Tyrrell Museum, named after him. The new $20 silver coin depicts Albertosaurus sarcophagus sporting a crest of feathers along the back from head to tail.

Coin collectors and dinosaur lovers alike may want to have a close look at the fourth and final coin in the Canadian Dinosaurs series.
    The Royal Canadian Mint has featured Albertosaurus on its 2015 final coin of the series, on a one ounce silver twenty dollar coin.
    And the Albertosaurus is sporting something not seen in a lot of dinosaur pictures - feathers.
“We don’t have any evidence for feathers in the Alberta species,” said the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s Dr. Francois Therrien, “so we tried to compromise a little bit.”
    He said even though there is not evidence of feathers on the Albertosaurus sarcophagus, there is the potential for feathers, because some of the dinosaur’s distant ancestors sported feathers.
    The coin shows the Albertosaurus with a crest of feathers from the top of its head, running down the back, including the tail, to reflect new scientific discoveries being made, explains Dr. Therrien.
    He said there is evidence some Tyrannosaurs had feathers, and the distant older relative of Albertosaurus discovered in China sported feathers, so the ability to produce feathers would be in Albertosaurus genetic make up.
    A few small pieces of fossilized Albertosaurus skin have been discovered in Alberta that show a scaly skin, said Dr. Therrien, but there are no skin impressions available for the entire skeleton. That also leaves open the possibility of feathers.
    Joseph B. Tyrrell discovered the first Albertosaurus, a skull, within six kilometres of the current Royal Tyrrell Museum, said Dr. Therrien.
    Dr. Therrien has been a scientific consultant with the Royal Canadian Mint since 2007. He estimates close to fifteen coins he’s consulted on now with the Mint.
    He also  consulted with the mint on coins depicting Canadian ice age animals.
    The $20 Albertosaurus coin is currently available to order online at www.mint.ca

The World's Largest Dinosaur saw a ten per cent increase in visitors over 2013.

After a full year of operation, it appears the message coming from Travel Drumheller is that marketing works.
    Travel Drumheller is holding its annual general meeting this Wednesday, November 26 at the Badlands Community Facility. They have an exciting year to report on and an optimistic outlook for the future of tourism in the valley.
    This year Chris Curtis, executive director of Travel Drumheller estimates there was an overall 20 per cent increase in tourism in Drumheller. He reports the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s traffic was up 30 per cent and is poised to welcome close to 400,000 visitors next year. The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site was up 16 per cent and the World’s Largest Dinosaur was up 10 per cent.
    This doesn’t happen in a vacuum. In 2013, he estimates there was $100,000 overall invested in marketing. In 2014, with the addition of premier events like the Tough Mudder, and the Gran Fondo, investment overall was in the area of $600,000.
    “It is a matter of hearing the name Drumheller often enough and people will come,” said Curtis. “If we could match (investment) last year, this summer, we could anticipate another 20 per cent increase in tourism, which would be huge. That is why we are so interested in getting sustainable funding, to do the things we want to do.”

Chris Curtis,  Travel Drumheller Executive Director
    Not all of this investment came solely from Travel Drumheller, its role helped to be a contact point and a facilitator to promote the valley. This week he was at Canada West Market place in Canmore where international buyers gathered to see what Western Canada has to offer. There was great interest in Drumheller.
    “This is not about marketing one thing, this is about marketing Drumheller as an area, people don’t come here for our hotels, the don’t come generally to stay in our campgrounds, they come here for what Drumheller has to offer. It is a big thing for us to realize what we have to offer,” he said.
    The AGM is to report on the past year, to outline this future vision and to elect board members.
    Recently Travel Drumheller presented its sustainable funding model through business licenses. He said he would be there to answer questions about the function of the proposed model. He says it is important to continue to invest in promoting the valley.
    “If we don’t continue to do the work we are doing, it is not like we are going to have the status quo, because other people are doing the work we are doing,” he said. “So if we don’t do more and better work, we will actually fall behind.”
    The meeting is at 7 p.m. and residents are welcome to attend.
    “We want people to leave the meeting with sense of optimism for Drumheller.”