Canadian Maple Leaf

For over 40 years the Canadian Maple Leaf bullion coin has stood as one of the most popular and recognizable bullion coins in the world. Introduced in 1979 as sanctions against South Africa affected supplies of the top selling Krugerrand. The Canadian Maple Leaf was only the second modern bullion coin produced in the world and the first to be of 99.99% pure gold. The coin was an immediate hit and quickly outsold the Krugerrand.

In 1982, with further advances in the refining process, a .9999% pure coin was introduced. Soon after, the Special Edition Gold Maple Leaf Gold coins known as the “Five Nines” offered a purity of .99999%. Thought the Five Nines pure coins are typically more for collecting instead of for investment purposes the Canadian Mint is the world’s only mint to strike coins of this purity.

In addition to their fineness, Canadian Maple Leaf coins are distinguished by their unique and enhanced security measures. Among those features are newer features such as micron-precise tooling which gives the coins an ultra-precise radial line pattern and a very specific light-diffraction that makes these coins unmistakable from any other. Every characteristic of the coin is laser micro-engraved, a feature Maple Leafs share with Canada’s circulating currency coins. These features make the Maple Leaf extremely difficult to counterfeit.

Into the 1980’s and 1990’s, demand for the Canadian Maple Leaf continued to grow. To meet this interest, the variety of coin offerings was expanded to include different weights and sizes in a variety of precious metals. Not all metals continued in production due to various supply limitations. Even so, because Maple Leafs have remained a popular choice as investment bullion coins, they have a strong buy-back value. This is especially evident when compared to the wider range of prices typical for a coin like the Krugerrand.

More about the features of the Canadian Maple Leaf:

• Over the course of the Maple Leaf’s history, the obverse portrait of Elizabeth II has seen three iterations: 1979-1989, Arnold Machin's “39-year-old portrait,” 1990-2004, Dora de Pédery-Hunt's “64-year-old portrait,” and 2005-present: Susanna Blunt's “79-year-old portrait”; the exquisitely detailed image of the maple leaf on the reverse has remained unchanged
• The coins have been issued in Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium
• All gold coins are weighed three times to ensure they contain no less than the guaranteed weight – the coin is weighed as a blank, after it’s stuck, and then again when packaged; silver coins are weighed twice
• A Silver Maple Leaf coin was introduced in 1988 and is .9999% (“four nines”) pure; the standard in silver bullion is .999%
• Since its introduction, sales of  Silver Maple Leaf coins have grown consistently from 1.15 million coins in 1988 to 34.3 million in 2015; today it is second only in popularity to the American Silver Eagle bullion coin
• A Platinum Maple Leaf was also introduced in 1988 and was .9995% pure platinum; it was issued annually in several denominations until discontinued in 2002; a 1 ounce version of the platinum bullion coin was reintroduced in 2009 with a purity of 999.5%
• The Palladium Maple Leaf was introduced in 2005 and produced until 2007; it was issued again only for 2009 and then reintroduced again in 2015; the palladium coins have a purity of .9995%
• A coin with a $1 million face value was introduced and would be the world’s largest gold coin at a weight of 100 kg

It’s important to note that depending on the year of production it’s possible to find a Gold Maple Leaf in different purities ranging from .999 fine, .9999 fine, to .99999 fine. Please be aware that although .9999 fine is the industry standard now, most buyers who purchase older .999 fine Maple Leafs may see wider differences in value when reselling. It’s for this reason that we at Mint State Gold recommend only the purchase of Maple Leafs at a purity of .9999% or finer to all of our gold bullion buyers.

To learn more about the Canadian Maple Leaf and see how it could be an excellent fit into your investment portfolio, please contact us and an experienced Mint State Gold representative will be happy to see how we can assist you.

Canadian Maple Leaf Coin Specifications

Gold Specifications:

Silver, Platinum, and Palladium Coin Specifications:

Stores: Gold Maple Leaf | Silver Maple Leaf | Platinum Maple Leaf | Palladium Maple Leaf

Please feel free to contact us to get more information about the Canadian Maple Leaf.