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 (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

since 1988. It is produced by the

Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint () is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under an act of parliament referred to as the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The mi ...

. The Silver Maple Leaf is

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that Standard of deferred payment, courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment in court for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything ...

. 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. Ho ...

is 5

Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...

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 t ...

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 t ...

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. The standard version has a weight of 1

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

(31.1 grams). The Silver Maple Leaf's

obverse and reverse The obverse and reverse are 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, ''obverse'' mean ...

display, respectively, the profile of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

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

History

The Silver Maple Leaf is issued annually by the

. Introduced in 1988 by the

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

obverse The obverse and reverse are 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, ''obverse'' ...

displayed the profile of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

up until 2023. There have been three subsequent versions of the Queen's profile: * 1988–1989: Portrait by

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

. * 1990–2003: Portrait by Dora de Pédery-Hunt. * 2004–2023: Portrait by Susanna Blunt. Canadian coins released to the public starting in 2024 now bear a new obverse of her successor King

. * 2024–Present: Portrait b
Steven Rosati.
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

(31.1 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

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

. 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 (main series)

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.

Commemoratives

Anniversaries

Editions with special privy marks

In 1999, many Silver Maple Leaf coins were issued with a privy mark to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the RCM Maple Leaf Program. 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,

Anniversaries and commemorations

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

Notes

References

External links

Royal Canadian Mint's Official Website

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