The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is a silver bullion coin that is issued annually by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

since 1988. It is produced by the

Royal Canadian Mint }) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufacture ...

. The Silver Maple Leaf is

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...

. The

face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Howe ...

is 5

Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...

s. The

market value Market value or OMV (Open Market Valuation) is the price at which an asset would trade in a competitive auction setting. Market value is often used interchangeably with ''open market value'', '' fair value'' or ''fair market value'', although th ...

of the metal varies, depending on the

spot price In finance, a spot contract, spot transaction, or simply spot, is a contract of buying or selling a commodity, security or currency for immediate settlement (payment and delivery) on the spot date, which is normally two business days after the ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

. The 99.99% silver content makes the coin among the finest official bullion coins worldwide. The standard version has a weight of 1

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and th ...

(31.10 grams). The Silver Maple Leaf's

obverse and reverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ' ...

display, respectively, the profile of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

and the Canadian Maple Leaf. In 2014, new security features were introduced: radial lines and a micro-engraved laser mark.

Information

The Silver Maple Leaf is issued annually by the

. Introduced in 1988 by the

, there have been three subsequent standard editions and several special editions. The Silver Maple Leaf's

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

displays the profile of

. There have been three subsequent versions of the Queen's profile: * 1988–1989: Portrait by

Arnold Machin Arnold Machin OBE, R.A., FRSS (; 30 September 1911 – 9 March 1999) was a British artist, sculptor, and coin and postage stamp designer. Life Machin was born Stoke-on-Trent in 1911. He started work at the age of 14 as an apprentice china pai ...

. * 1990–2003: Portrait by Dora de Pédery-Hunt. * Since 2004: Portrait by

Susanna Blunt Susanna Blunt (born 1955) is a Canadian portrait artist who designed the most recent portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the current Canadian coinage, first issued in 2003. Early life and education She was born in Harbin, China, the daughter of ...

Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins and tubes

The Silver Maple Leaf's reverse displays the Canadian Maple Leaf. This design has remained unchanged since 1988. In 2014, however, new security features were introduced: radial lines and a micro-engraved laser mark. Also the obverse was affected by this. The phrases CANADA and FINE SILVER 1 OZ ARGENT PUR are universal elements. Granted a

of 5

s, the Silver Maple Leaf has status as

. It has also a

that depends on the

and that normally exceeds the nominal face value. With few exceptions and alike similar international bullion coins, the Silver Maple Leaf has a weight of 1

(31.10 grams). The 99.99% silver content makes the coin among the finest official bullion coins worldwide. Samples of the Silver Maple Leaf often carry a blemish that has a milky-white appearance, called a milk spot. This happens when a cleaning detergent is left on the coin when it goes into the annealing furnace.. This issue was addressed in 2018 with the RCM introduction of "MINTSHIELD" surface protection technology to prevent milk spots. The Silver Maple Leaf was originally packaged in

Mylar BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and a ...

. Since 2009, due to increasing demand, it is packaged in semi-transparent tubes with a yellow lid bearing the RCM logo. Some special editions have tubes with an orange, red, blue, dark blue or grey lid. Each tube contains 25 coins.''Canadian Coin News'' Volume 47, number 12, pagina 1. 20 September–12 October 2009. Furthermore, there exist boxes that contain 20 tubes each.

Mintage (all uncirculated bulk coins)

The issue from the year 2000 was sold as an uncirculated bulk coin yet bears the Fireworks privy mark on it.
It is re-listed in the special privy mark section below but is still essentially part of the standard bullion series.

Special editions

Special editions may, in this article, be divided into the following subcategories: * Commemorative editions * Editions with special privy marks * Fractional editions * Editions with nature-related themes * Coloured and hologram editions In 1998, marking the 10th anniversary of the Silver Maple Leaf series, a single-issue 10-ounce version was produced. The Silver Maple Leaf (SML), a staple of pure silver bullion, was only produced in 1oz coins. It was only for the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the SML, that a reverse proof 10oz Silver Maple Leaf was struck. Unfortunately, due to price ($200, silver spot ~$6) and lack of interest, the planned 30,000 10oz SMLs were not sold out, and more than half were taken back for melting. Their cases were also recycled for one of the 2004 2oz bimetallic coins that the RCM issued. This is also the reason that some of the silver COAs will number above 14,000, 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 RCM may refer to: Organisations United Kingdom * Royal College of Music, London * Royal College of Midwives * Royal Cornwall Museum Canada * Royal Canadian Mint * The Royal Conservatory of Music * ''Rassemblement des citoyens et des citoyennes ...

. In the following year, the coins featured a privy mark with fireworks and the number 2000. Another Silver Maple Leaf version was issued to commemorate the millennium. The coins were double-dated 1999 and 2000.''Charlton Standard of Canadian Coins'', 60th Edition, p.434, W.K. Cross, Some of the privy-marked Silver Maple Leaf versions were available only in Europe. In 2005, the Liberation of the Netherlands triple privy silver Maple Leaf—the rarest of all Silver Maple Leaf coins—was struck by the Royal Canadian Mint for the

Royal Dutch Mint The Royal Dutch Mint (''Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt'', abbreviated ''KNM'') based in Houten, the Netherlands, is a company owned by Heylen Group. It was established and previously owned by the Dutch state. History On 17 September 1806, when Th ...

. The first coin produced by the facility, graded SP70 on the

Sheldon scale The Sheldon Coin Grading Scale is a 70-point coin grading scale used in the numismatic assessment of a coin's quality. The American Numismatic Association based its ''Official ANA Grading Standards'' in large part on the Sheldon scale. The scale wa ...

, was to be presented to

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husban ...

of the Netherlands. In 2005, The Royal Canadian Mint issued The North America LEGACY of LIBERTY pure silver commemorative coin set, with two coins dated 2004 and two coin dated 2005. Also included in the set was the first poppy colourized quarter (2005), a Royal Canadian Legion symbol of remembrance, hope, and sacrifice. Three 1oz pure silver maple leaf coins with privy marks were 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 being minted. There are also special edition R.C.M. coins called the 'Maple Leaf Forever' series, with there being three maple leaf symbols on the reverse. The mint has minted 100,000 of this design in 1/2 oz .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, such as the $20 for $20 series, the 'Piedfort Maple' series, the 5 oz silver 25th anniversary coins, 1 oz silver 25th anniversary coins with gold guild clad (an identical coin is minted in 1 oz of .9995 fine platinum) and fractional 25th anniversary coins in silver and gold. There are also the 1 kg $250 coins 2011–2015 with mintage numbers 999, 1200, 600, 600, 500 respectively. 2 other series noted by argent pur signa include the SML edge lettering 20 coins which includes: 2013

Bald Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

- 7,500 - Bald Eagle #1 - Portrait of Power - Bald Eagle #2 - Lifelong Mates - Bald Eagle #3 - Deadly Predator - Bald Eagle #4 - Mother Protecting Baby Eaglets 2014 Bison Bull – Complete 7,500 - Bison Bull #1 - Buffalo Proof - Bison Bull #2 - Bull and His Mate - Bison Bull #3 - The Fight - Bison Bull #4 - Family At Rest 2014 White-Tailed Deer - 7,500 - White-Tailed Deer #1 - Portrait of a 10-Point Buck - White-Tailed Deer #2 - Challenge for Power - Two Bucks Fighting - White-Tailed Deer #3 - Mates Leaping Over a Fallen Pine Log - White-Tailed Deer #4 - A Doe and Her Fawns 2015 Sportfish of North America - 6500 - Largemouth Bass Game Trophy Fish $20 - Northern Pike Game Trophy Fish $20 Pure - Walleye Game Trophy Fish $20 Pure Silver - Rainbow Trout Trophy Fish $20 Pure Silver 2015-2016 Great Grizzly Bear - 6500 - Canada 2015 Great Grizzly Bear #1 - The Catch - Canada 2015 Great Grizzly Bear #2 - Togetherness - Canada 2015 Great Grizzly Bear #3 - Family - Canada 2016 Great Grizzly Bear #4 - The Battle for Dominance 2014 $20 The Seven Sacred Teachings: SML argent pur mintage 7,000 -1- Love eagle -2- Respect bison or buffalo -3- Courage Grizzly bear -4- Honest Raven -5- Wisdom Beaver and Poplar Tree -6- Humility Wolf -7- Truth Turtle

Commemorative editions

Anniversaries

Editions with special privy marks

Anniversaries and commemorations (1 oz CAD$5 coins)

Zodiac series (1998–2009)

Zodiac series (2012–)

Fabulous series

Sets

Editions with nature-related themes

Fine silver fractional four-coin sets

Canadian Wildlife Series

Birds of Prey Series

Predator Series

Canadian Arctic Series 1½ oz

Other Silver Maple Leaf coins

Hologram Silver Maple Leaf

Olympic Maple Leaf

References

External links

Royal Canadian Mint's Official Website

{{Canadian currency and coinage Five-base-unit coins Silver Maple Leaf Silver bullion coins