Canadian Gold Maple Leaf

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is the official gold bullion coin of Canada and is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. The brainchild of Walter Ott, it is one of the purest gold coins of regular issue in the world, with a gold content of .9999 millesimal fineness (24 carats), with some special issues .99999 fine. That is, it contains virtually no base metals at all – only gold exclusively from gold mines in Canada.

The coin was first introduced in 1979. At that time, the only available bullion coin was the Krugerrand, which was not widely available because of an economic boycott of apartheid-era South Africa. Coins minted between 1979 and 1981 have gold content of .999.

The coin is offered in 1/20 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz denominations and is guaranteed to contain the stated amount (in troy ounces) of .9999 fine gold (24 carat). The coins have legal tender status in Canada, but as is often the case with bullion coins, the face values of these coins (C$1, C$5, C$10, C$20 and C$50) are purely symbolic and are much lower than their market value.

The 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2 troy oz coins are identical in design to the 1 troy oz coin except for the markings on the obverse and reverse sides that indicate the weight and face value of the coin. In 1994, 1/15 oz ($2.00 face value) gold and platinum coins were issued, possibly for use in jewelry. They were not very successful, and so 1994 remains the only year in which 1/15 oz gold and platinum bullion coins were produced.

Starting in 1988, Maple Leaf coins have also been struck in .9995-fine platinum, having the same weights and face values as the gold coins. Since 1988, a one ounce .9999-fine silver Maple Leaf has also been struck, with a face value of 5 dollars. In 2005, a .9995-fine palladium Maple Leaf 1 oz coin was introduced, with a face value of 50 dollars. The palladium Maple Leaf is subject to the federal GST in Canada.

On May 3, 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a Gold Maple Leaf coin with a face value of One Million Dollars, though the gold content was worth over $2 million at the time. It measures 50 cm in diameter by 3 cm thick and weighs 100 kilograms, with a purity of 99.999%. The artist is Stanley Witten. The coin is mainly a promotional product to give the mint a higher international profile. The 100-kilogram coin was conceived as a one-off showpiece to promote the mint's new line of 99.999 per cent pure one ounce Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins but after several interested buyers came forward the mint announced it would manufacture them as ordered and sell them for between $2.5 million and $3 million. As of May 3 2007 there were five confirmed orders.

All weights are in troy ounces.

Gold Maple Leaf

 * For .99999 (five nines) Pure Gold Maple Leafs, see the Special issues section of this article.


 * .9999 1982 Gold Maple Leafs started minting in November. Thus, most of the 1982 Gold Maple Leafs are .999 fine.

Production Problems
Some dealers have complained about the production quality of the Gold Maples. The softness of 24 karat gold combined with the Gold Maples' milled edge and clear field around the Queen and the tube storage supplied means that the coins easily show handling marks. This is a standard problem with pure gold, and bullion was actually never intended to be handled but rather kept as an investment.

Platinum Maple Leaf
Note: No platinum maple leafs were minted between 2002 and 2009, when the 1 oz platinum maple leaf was reintroduced. Only five hundred sets of hologram platinum maple leaf coins including all five denominations were minted in 2002.

Palladium Maple Leaf
Available in a one-ounce format, the Palladium coin presented an alternative to the Platinum Maple Leaf, which had been discontinued in 1999. During the testing process for the Palladium coin, coins were tested on two different Palladium blanks. These blanks had been identified as Lot "A" and Lot "B". From these blanks, 290 test coins were struck. Said coins were struck with a Mint Mark to attest to their authenticity. All test coins struck from Lot A were identified with an "A" Mint Mark, and all test coins struck from Lot B were given a "B" Mint Mark. These coins were available through a draw held by the Royal Canadian Mint. Their face value was $50 each and the issue price for both coins were $1,299.95.

Bimetallic Maple Leaf
As a way of commemorating 25 years as an industry leader in bullion coins, the Royal Canadian Mint created a unique six coin set. It was a new bimetallic maple leaf set in bullion finish (a brilliant relief against a parallel lined background). The six-coin set was the first ever to include the 1/25 oz. Maple Leaf denomination. Each coin included a double-date of 1979-2004, and the 1 ounce coin featured a commemorative privy mark. All coins were packaged in a black leather presentation case with a black velour insert along with a certificate of authenticity.

Other Details

99.999% Gold Maple Leaf
The gold Maple Leaf coin was .999 pure until 1982, when its purity was raised to .9999, setting a new benchmark for gold bullion coins. The Royal Canadian Mint has maintained its tradition of leadership in the gold bullion industry by raising the bar once more, to .99999.

This purity won't replace the Mint's standard .9999 Gold Maple Leaf coins, but is reserved for exclusive special editions produced to show off the Royal Canadian Mint's engineering excellence in coin minting.

Olympic Maple Leaf

 * The Royal Canadian Mint and the International Olympic Committee have reached an agreement on Olympic Gold and Silver Maple Leaf coins. The announcement was made on August 3, 2007 and the agreement allows the RCM to strike bullion coins with the emblems of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The issue will consist of two coins: one Gold Maple Leaf coin and a Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coin and both coins will feature the date of 2008. The new agreement means that the RCM is now selling Olympic coins through all of its major business lines: bullion, circulation, numismatics.

Definition of finishes

 * Bullion: Brilliant relief against a parallel lined background.
 * Proof: Frosted relief against a mirror background
 * Specimen: Brilliant relief on a satin background.