Canadian Maple Leaf Coin: Gold/Silver, Sizes, & Where to Buy

The Canadian Maple Leaf Coin is one of the world’s most sought-after bullion coins. Produced by the Royal Canadian Mint beginning in 1979, the coin is considered a good store of value.

This overview looks at the coin’s history, design, and investment value.

Continue reading to learn more.

About the Canadian Maple Leaf Coin

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin was first minted in 1979 and is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.

It’s one of the world’s purest gold bullion coins with its purity increasing to 0.9999 beginning in 1982.

The gold coin has a face value of 50 Canadian dollars while the silver coin – first issued in 1988 – has a face value of 5 Canadian dollars.

History

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is one of the first bullion coins available for purchase on the market.

It was created to meet growing demand for gold as an investment option and to provide an alternative to the South African Krugerrand.

The coin was originally issued in 1979 with a purity of 0.999. After increasing the purity of the coin in 1982, the Royal Canadian Mint became the first mint in the world to produce coins with 99.999% purity.

Part of the British Commonwealth, the coin features the British monarch on the obverse side and the Canadian maple leaf on the reverse.

From 1979 to 2023 the coin featured Queen Elizabeth II, changing in 2024 to feature King Charles III.

The coin has been issued with several special editions including the Big Maple Leaf coin which has a face value of $1 million and weighs 100 kg.

Only six of these coins were ever minted. The original coin is owned by the Royal Mint in Ottawa while another went missing after being stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin in 2017.

The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coin was issued in 1988. It was created to compete with the American Silver Eagle coin.

Design

The Gold Maple Leaf Coin features the British monarch on the obverse and the Canadian maple leaf on the reverse.

The coin has gone through several updates over the years to incorporate new portrait updates.

From 1979 to 1981, the coin featured a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin and was engraved by Walter Ott.

Queen Elizabeth is aged 39 and faces to the right. In this portrait, the queen is wearing a tiara.

In 1990 Queen Elizabeth’s portrait was updated by Dora de Pedery-Hunt. This coin features Queen Elizabeth at age 64 and facing to the right.

The coin was updated after the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2022. From 2003 to 2023, the coin featured a portrait of Queen Elizabeth at age 79 that was commissioned by Suzanna Blunt.

Following Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022, the coin underwent a portrait change in 2024. King Charles replaces Queen Elizabeth on the obverse and faces to the left. His portrait was designed by Steven Rosati.

The maple leaf design on the reverse of the coin has remained unchanged since 1979. A micro-engraved security feature was added to the coin beginning in 2013 and a radial line was added in 2014 to deter counterfeiting.

Inscriptions on the obverse of all gold coins include either ‘QUEEN ELIZABETH II’ or ‘KING CHARLES III,’ ‘50 DOLLARS’ to denote the face value of the coin, and the year it was minted.

The reverse inscriptions include:

• CANADA
• FINE GOLD
• 1 OZ OR PUR
• 999 or 9999 (depending on year of mint)

The Silver Maple Leaf coin includes the same design as the gold coin. It has the face value of ‘5 DOLLARS’ inscribed on the front with ‘FINE SILVER’ and ‘1 OZ ARGENT PUR’ inscribed on the reverse.

Minting & Distribution

The Royal Canadian Mint produces maple leaf coins in Winnipeg and Ottawa.

Both coins are legal tender with the gold coin carrying a face value of 50 Canadian dollars and the silver coin carrying a face value of 5 Canadian dollars.

The Royal Canadian Mint does not disclose the exact number of coins that have been produced.

From 1979 to 1982 the gold coin had a purity of 0.999. From 1982 onward, the purity increased to 0.9999. Some special edition coins have been issued with a purity of 0.99999 – known as Five Nines.

They include:

• 2005 Fifty Dollar Coin
• 2007 Two Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2007 One Million Dollar Coin (nicknamed Big Maple Leaf) 
• 2008 Two Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2009 Two Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2011 Two Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2012 Two Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2012 Five Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2014 Two Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2015 Two Hundred Dollar Coin
• 2016 Two Hundred Dollar Coin

The Royal Canadian Mint has also issued colored coins and hologram coins. Colored coins were issued in 1999 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Gold Maple Leaf and in 2010 for the Vancouver Olympics.

Hologram coins were issued in 1999, 2001, and 2009 in different denominations.

Aside from the Big Maple Leaf, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued several unique coins including:

• 10th Anniversary Coin
• 125th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mint
• 20th Anniversary Coin
• 25th Anniversary of Gold Maple Leaf
• Bullion Replica
• 1⁄10 oz Gold Maple Theory of Relativity Privy
• Allied Gold

The mint has also produced privy-marked coins and fractional coins. Fractional coins include:

• 1⁄2 oz
• 1⁄4 oz
• 1⁄10 oz
• 1⁄20 oz

Some Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Coins carry a blemish known as milk spots. This creates a milky-white blemish on the coin.

In 2018, the Royal Canadian Mint introduced MINTSHIELD to protect the surface of silver coins.

Milk spots don’t affect the intrinsic value of silver coins but can affect their appearance.

Best Places to Buy Canadian Maple Leaf Coins

I’ve listed my top 3 favorite places online that I like to buy my Maple Leaf coins from.

Goldco

Goldco is a reputable precious metals dealer that offers the Canadian Maple Leaf Coin for direct purchase or inclusion in a gold IRA.

JM Bullion

JM Bullion is a Dallas-based online precious metals retailer with more than a decade of experience. Investors can purchase Canadian Maple Leaf Coins directly from the company’s website.

APMEX

Founded in 2000, APMEX is an online precious metals marketplace offering the Canadian Maple Leaf Coin.

Are Canadian Maple Leaf coins a good investment?

Canadian Maple Leaf Coins are one of the purest gold bullion coins available. The coin continues to retain its value as demand for gold rises.

It is an IRS-approved coin that can be purchased for a gold IRA.

Learn more about investing in precious metals to see how you can diversify your portfolio with gold.