Royal Canadian Mint - investment coins
About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is wholly owned by the government. It mints coins and bars of gold, silver, platinum and palladium for the investment market, as well as silver bullion for the jewellery industry. The most famous coins are the Maple Leaf with the Canadian maple leaf motif and Queen Elizabeth II on the reverse. The first such coin was struck in 1979. From this mint comes the very popular Wildlife series featuring bison, cougar, moose and wolf. In addition, it specializes in the production of commemorative coins and medals.
It operates a technically advanced refinery where it refines precious metals from a variety of sources including primary producers, industry and financial institutions. It is also a museum where visitors can see the minting process from start to finish and a collection of minted commemorative coins.
History
The first Canadian coins were minted at the Royal Mint in London. After independence, more currency was needed, so the Royal Mint in London authorized the establishment of a branch in Ottawa. Independence from its mother was gained during the Great Depression. In 1931, the Ottawa Mint was renamed the Royal Canadian Mint. It was the first in the world to issue the first colored circulation coin in 2004 and scored another world first in 2017 when it issued the first glow-in-the-dark coin. Customers of the Royal Canadian Mint include governments, central banks and treasuries. The Mint has the capacity to produce more than two billion circulating coins or blanks annually for foreign countries.
Gold and silver coins
The most popular investment gold and silver coin is the Maple Leaf. These coins contain no other metals, just pure gold mined from gold mines in Canada. The Maple Leaf gold coin is offered in 1/20 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz and 1 oz sizes and is guaranteed to contain a metal content (in troy ounces) of 0.9999 (24 carats). It differs only on the obverse and reverse sides by the weight and face value indications.
The small maple leaf with the year of issue is a security mark made using the laser microfabrication technique used on all Maple Leaf gold and silver investment coins issued since 2014. All coins feature a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain on the obverse with the inscription ELIZABETH II, year of issue and face value.
