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What a Canadian Maple Leaf coin is
The Maple Leaf is Canada’s government bullion coin. Gold Maples are .9999 fine. Silver Maples are one ounce of .9999 silver. Shops treat them as first-tier bullion.
The Maple Leaf is the Royal Canadian Mint’s bullion coin.
Gold Maple
.9999 fine — four nines — and, in the one-ounce size, one troy ounce of gold. Soft compared with a 22k Eagle or Krugerrand, so it marks more easily. Still one of the three or four coins every US shop knows without a book.
Silver Maple
One ounce of .9999 silver. Same idea. Sometimes more spotting than people expect from “four nines.” Still a Maple. The complaint is the same family as Eagle milk spots.
Purity is not the whole bid
A shop is buying recognition and resale, not winning a purity contest. A one-ounce Maple and a one-ounce Eagle both contain one ounce of gold. The Eagle is a heavier coin because of alloy. Fineness. Gold Eagle spec.
Radial lines and other security details exist on later Maples. We still weigh them. Tests. Government vs generic.
Continue in the coin and money library. Related visitor guides: for shop visitors.
Extra pad history for the Maple Leaf
The Royal Canadian Mint launched the gold Maple in 1979, after the Krugerrand had already taught the world to buy gold by the ounce. The one-ounce gold Maple is .9999 fine — four nines — and contains one troy ounce of gold. It is softer than a 22k Eagle or Krugerrand, so it marks more easily. It is still one of the three or four coins every US shop knows without a book.
Silver Maples are one ounce of .9999 silver. They spot. The complaint is the same family as Eagle milk spots. Canadian circulating silver from 1920 through 1966 is 80% and is a different pile. Do not mix a tube of Maples with a bag of 80% dimes in your head.
What the shop does with Maples
We weigh them. Later Maples have radial lines and other security details. We still weigh them. Tests. Government vs generic. A one-ounce Maple and a one-ounce Eagle both contain one ounce of gold. The Eagle is a heavier coin because of alloy. Fineness. Purity is not the whole bid. Recognition and resale are.
Do not polish marks out of a soft Maple. Don’t clean. Fractionals exist and cost more premium per ounce. If you have a mixed tube, say so. We count ounces first.
People also ask
Is a Maple “better gold” than an Eagle? Same ounce. Softer jacket.
Why do silver Maples spot? Storage and chemistry. Still a Maple.
Are old Canadian 80% coins Maples? No. Different product, 80% circulating silver.
Will a shop bid a Maple like an Eagle? Close. US retail often prefers Eagles a little. Both are honest metal.