You can buy Silver Maple Leaf coins from 401Gold and Troy.ca, and you can see our live prices here - Buy Silver Maple Leaf coins
Investing in precious metals like silver is a smart financial move, and one of the best ways to invest in silver is to buy Silver Maple Leaf coins. These coins are highly sought after for their purity, quality, and beautiful design. In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about buying Silver Maple Leaf coins in Toronto & Canada.
Silver Maple Leaf coins are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and are one of the purest silver coins in the world, with a purity of 99.99%. They are legal tender in Canada and have a face value of 5 Canadian dollars. The coins feature the iconic maple leaf design on one side and the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the other.
The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is an annual silver bullion coin issued by the Government of Canada since 1988 and produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. It holds a legal tender status with a face value of 5 Canadian dollars, while its market value fluctuates based on the silver spot price. With a silver content of 99.99%, it ranks among the finest official bullion coins globally, weighing 1 troy ounce (31.10 grams).
Featuring Queen Elizabeth II's profile on the obverse and the Canadian Maple Leaf on the reverse, the coin incorporated new security features in 2014, including radial lines and a micro-engraved laser mark.
Initially released with Elizabeth II's profile on the obverse, subsequent standard editions showcased three versions of the Queen's profile:
Coins issued to the public starting late 2023 now feature a new obverse depicting her successor, Charles III, and you can buy silver maple leaf coins with King Charles
The reverse of the Silver Maple Leaf coin features the iconic Canadian Maple Leaf design, which has remained unchanged since its introduction in 1988. In 2014, new security features, including radial lines and a micro-engraved laser mark, were added, affecting both the obverse and reverse designs.
The phrases "CANADA" and "FINE SILVER 1 OZ ARGENT PUR" are standard elements on the coin.
With a face value of 5 Canadian dollars, the Silver Maple Leaf holds legal tender status. Its market value, however, is determined by the current spot price of silver and typically exceeds its nominal face value. Weighing 1 troy ounce (31.10 grams), the coin boasts a silver content of 99.99%, placing it among the highest purity official bullion coins worldwide.
One common issue with Silver Maple Leaf coins is the presence of milk spots, which are blemishes with a milky-white appearance. These spots occur when cleaning detergent residue is not fully removed before the coin is heated in the annealing furnace. In response to this issue, the Royal Canadian Mint introduced "MINTSHIELD" surface protection technology in 2018 to prevent the formation of milk spots.
Initially, Silver Maple Leaf coins were packaged in Mylar, but since 2009, due to increased demand, they are packaged in semi-transparent tubes with a yellow lid featuring the RCM logo. Special editions may have tubes with lids in other colors, such as orange, red, blue, dark blue, or grey. Each tube contains 25 coins. Additionally, there are boxes available that contain 20 tubes each.
Special editions to buy Silver Maple Leaf coins can be categorized as follows:
In 1998, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Silver Maple Leaf series, a single-issue 10-ounce version was produced. Typically, Silver Maple Leaf coins are only minted in 1-ounce sizes, but for this special occasion, a reverse proof 10-ounce Silver Maple Leaf was struck. However, due to its high price ($200, with the silver spot price around $6 at the time) and lack of interest, the planned 30,000 10-ounce Silver Maple Leafs were not completely sold out, and more than half were melted down. The cases for these coins were recycled for the production of one of the 2004 2-ounce bimetallic coins issued by the RCM. This explains why some of the silver Certificate of Authenticity (COA) numbers exceed 14,000, even though only around 13,000 of the coins survived.
In 1999, many Silver Maple Leaf coins were issued with a privy mark to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the RCM Maple Leaf Program. The following year, the coins featured a privy mark with fireworks and the number 2000. Another version of the Silver Maple Leaf was issued to commemorate the millennium, with coins double-dated 1999 and 2000.
Some privy-marked Silver Maple Leaf versions were exclusively available in Europe. In 2005, the Royal Canadian Mint struck the Liberation of the Netherlands triple privy silver Maple Leaf, the rarest of all Silver Maple Leaf coins, for the Royal Dutch Mint. The first coin produced by the facility was graded SP70 on the Sheldon scale and was intended to be presented to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
In 2005, The Royal Canadian Mint issued The North America LEGACY of LIBERTY pure silver commemorative coin set, which included two coins dated 2004 and two coins dated 2005. The set also included the first poppy colorized quarter (2005), a symbol of remembrance, hope, and sacrifice by the Royal Canadian Legion. Three 1-ounce pure silver maple leaf coins with privy marks were also made: Victory Europe Day - May 8, 1945 (2005), Victory Japan Day - September 2, 1945 (2005), and D-Day - June 6th, 1944 (2004), with only 4200 sets minted.
The RCM also minted a special edition coin series called the 'Maple Leaf Forever' series, featuring three maple leaf symbols on the reverse. The mint produced 100,000 of these designs in 1/2 ounce .9999 fine silver coins and 200 strikes of the same design in a large 60mm diameter .9999 fine gold coin. Many other Royal Canadian Mint coins feature maple leaf symbols, including the $20 for $20 series, the 'Piedfort Maple' series, the 5-ounce silver 25th-anniversary coins, 1-ounce silver 25th-anniversary coins with gold guild clad (an identical coin is minted in 1 ounce of .9995 fine platinum), and fractional 25th-anniversary coins in silver and gold. Additionally, there are the 1-kilogram $250 coins minted from 2011 to 2015 with mintage numbers of 999, 1200, 600, 600, and 500, respectively.
Another series noted by argent pur signa includes the SML edge lettering 20 coins, which includes:
| Mon - Fri | 10am – 6pm |
|---|---|
| Sat | 10am – 4pm |
| Sun | 12pm – 4pm |
