All About Canadian Gold Maple Leafs

Buying gold is a great way to diversify your portfolio. If you’re just starting, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the different options. Gold bullion coins are a great place to start. Different countries, governments, and mints worldwide create various official bullion coins. For example, the U.S. mints the American Gold Eagle. Our neighbors to the North mint Canadian Gold Maple Leafs.

About the Canadian Gold Maple

Introduced in 1979, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is a legal tender in Canada with a face value of 50 Canadian dollars. It’s issued annually by the Canadian Government and produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. The obverse design features the profile of Queen Elizabeth II, and the reverse side features (you guessed it) a Maple leaf.

Canadian Gold Maples are also traded based on the market value of gold. Firstly, as with other gold coins, the market value varies depending on the spot price of gold. Secondly, it’s among the purest official bullion coins in the world, with some having a .9999 (four nines) or .99999 (five nines) millesimal fineness. However, the purer the gold, the softer the coin. Keep this in mind since the Gold Maple is more prone to handling marks.

Canadian Gold Maples are an appealing option for first-time buyers because the newer coins are harder to counterfeit. In 2013 and 2015, new security features, such as a laser-micro-engraved textured maple leaf, were introduced to combat fakes.

History of the Canadian Gold Maple

The coin was introduced in 1979, at a time when the only other official gold bullion coin on the market was the South African Krugerrand. The economy was booming for gold (thanks to the Nixon shock), which inspired other governments to take action and mint their gold coins, with the Royal Canadian Mint being the first. The Krugerrand also became harder to get when South Africa’s apartheid system resulted in economic sanctions from Western powers.

Gold Maples By the Year

Years	Denominations	Purity	Obverse
1979 – 1982	1 oz.	.999	39-year-old Queen
November 1982 – 1985	1 oz., 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz.	.9999	39-year-old Queen
1986 – 1989	1 oz., 1/2 oz., 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz.	.9999	39-year-old Queen
1990 – 1992	1 oz., 1/2 oz. 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz.	.9999	64-year-old Queen
1993	1 oz., 1/2 oz. 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz., 1/20 oz.	.9999	64-year-old Queen
1994	1 oz., 1/2 oz. 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz., 1/15 oz., 1/20 oz.	.9999	64-year-old Queen
1995 – 2004	1 oz., 1/2 oz., 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz., 1/20 oz.	.9999	64-year-old Queen
2005 – 2013	1 oz., 1/2 oz., 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz., 1/20 oz.	.9999	79-year-old Queen
2014 – present	1 oz., 1/2 oz., 1/4 oz., 1/10 oz., 1/20 oz., 1 gram	.9999	79-year-old Queen

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Gold_Maple_Leaf

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf makes for a compelling investment if you’re looking to grow your gold collection. It’s among the most popular coins in the world — therefore, you can’t go wrong. Visit Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange for a huge selection of authentic gold coins.