The Canadian Maple Leaf

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is definitely one of the purest gold coin in the world, it contains 24 carats, that is 99.99% gold with some special issues even containing 99.999% gold, where the gold is sourced within Canada. The Royal Canadian Mint issued this coin in 1979, at the time where the only other bullion coin available is the Krugerrand from South Africa, however due to the Apartheid policy, many countries declared the ownership of Krugerrand illegal, this therefore made the Canadian Maple Leaf a popular item among collectors.

Similar to the Krugerrand and many other bullion coins in issue today, the coin enjoys legal tender status in Canada. The coin is offered in denominations of 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 troy ounce. The Canadian Maple Leaf sees many interesting variations including the Bimetallic Maple Leaf, the Coloured Gold Maple Leaf, the Holographic Gold Maple Leaf, and even a 100kg Gold Maple Leaf (99.999% gold) that has a face value of $1million.

People buying gold coins has express concern about the packaging of the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (it is packed 10s to a tube), where the tight fittings of the tube, makes it virtually impossible to insert the gold coin back into the tube without scratching its face, since high purity gold coins like the Maple Leaf are soft and malleable (easily dented), and also the intricate designs of the reed and maple leaf can be easily damaged. In response to that, starting 2005, the Royal Canadian mint has come out with new packaging methods, where the wholesale coins are packed 25 to a box and individual coins are encapsulated in hard plastic. This measure is commonly believed to be able to increase the sales of the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf.