The most famous coin from Canada
The Maple Leaf gold coin is minted in Canada and is the bullion coin with the largest mintage in the world. It has been minted since 1979 and is thus - after the South African "Krugerrand" - the second oldest bullion coin in the world.
The Maple Leaf is also available in platinum, silver and even palladium.
Pure gold is very soft and neither scratch-resistant nor immune to abrasion. For this reason, alloying metals were mixed into gold coins in the past, for example copper. Since gold coins are no longer used in daily payment transactions, but are usually carefully stored in the vault, alloying is unnecessary. In 1982, the Royal Canadian Mint, headquartered in Ottawa, became the first mint to mint a 24-carat investor gold coin with a gold content of 99.9%. In 1983, the mint increased the gold value to 99.99%. This value (4 x 9) is now considered the standard.
The Maple Leaf silver coin is a bullion coin from Canada. Originally, the Canadian Maple Leaf was only available in gold, but since 1988, the Royal Canadian Mint has also minted the Maple Leaf gold coin as a silver coin in a wide variety of denominations (from 1 gram to 1 ounce) and finenesses for purchase. Besides the Vienna Philharmonic and the Silver Eagle, the Maple Leaf silver is one of the best-selling silver coins.
The front of the Maple Leaf gold coin adorns a maple leaf, to which the coin also owes its name. More precisely, it is the leaf of the sugar maple. On the coin it is - as on the Canadian flag - not shown simplified, but detailed. Thus, on closer inspection, you can even make out the leaf veins. The sugar maple is the national symbol of Canada and is not only widespread there, but also in large parts of Northeast America. It provides valuable wood as well as maple syrup.
Above the coin motif you will find the reference to the country of minting Canada. Below that, the information about fineness, fine weight, as well as the metal type are listed in both English and French.
The reverse of the coin is decorated with the portrait of the reigning head of state of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II, which is regularly updated with care. In addition, on the reverse you can still find the Canadian face value and the year of minting.
While the Maple Leaf in gold was initially (1979) launched only as a 1-ounce version, other coin sizes were minted in the following years.
Size | Diameter | Thickness | Weight | Nominal value | Mint years |
1 ounce | 30,00 mm | 2,87 mm | 31,103 g | 50 CAD | as of 1979 |
1/2 ounce | 25,00 mm | 2,23 mm | 15,552 g | 20 CAD | as of 1986 |
1/4 ounce | 20,00 mm | 1,78 mm | 7,776 g | 10 CAD | from 1982 |
1/10 ounce | 16,00 mm | 1,13 mm | 3,110 g | 5 CAD | from 1982 |
1/10 ounce | 14,00 mm | 0,92 mm | 1,555 g | 1 CAD | as of 1993 |
Most recently, the Royal Canadian Mint offered special editions with an extra mintmark (Privy Mark), as well as a proof version and special mintages for certain occasions, such as the Winter Olympics.
In 1988, the Maple Leaf appeared in silver and as a patron coin. In 2005, Canada also minted a palladium Maple Leaf for the first time.
The highlight in the history of the Maple Leaf gold coin so far is the 100-kg coin from 2007, whose face value is an incredible 1 million Canadian dollars, or around 750,000 euros. It is the world's largest gold coin. The record-breaking special edition has a slightly different design and a fineness of 99.999%. Due to the great demand for 1-ounce gold coins with this extremely high fineness, the 5 x 9 Maple Leaf, the "Super Maple," was reissued in 2008 and 2009, and most recently in 2012.
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