Produced by the Royal Mint of Canada, Silver Maple Leafs have been available since 1988. The Silver Maple Leaf weighs one ounce and is valued at 5 Canadian dollars. Being 5 dollars in Canada, the Silver Maple Leaf is one of the highest valued coins in the world.

The design of the coin is usually pretty simple having a picture of a maple leaf on one side and a depiction of Queen Elizabeth II on the other. Some versions were changed slightly, like the 2009 version of the coin which was a special edition for the Vancouver Olympics. Holographic editions of the coin exists along with other versions from years where the coin’s design was slightly altered, but for the most part, most Canadian Silver Maple Leafs follow a pretty standard design. The design of the coin is simple and unique and this is what draws people to the coin. Collectors crave the coin because of its unique design and investors flock to the coin because of its high purity levels.

Sizes and Denominations of the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf

Surprisingly enough, the Silver Maple Leaf has a purity of 99.99% which is even more silver than the common 99.9% that you see in most silver bullion coins around the world. The coin boasts a reeded edge and has a diameter of about 38 millimeters. Silver Maple Leafs are different than their gold and platinum counterparts because investors and collectors are paying well over the bullion price. This does not happen with the gold and platinum versions of the coin.

The coins minted in 1996 and 1997 are particularly valuable because a very limited amount of Silver Maple Leafs were minted in these years. In 1997 there were barely over one hundred thousand Silver Maple Leafs minted. Compare that to 1999 were the mintages were about 1.1 million coins. Again the amount of coins minted yearly jumped drastically between 2005 and 2006 going from about 1 million coins in 2005 to about 2.5 million in 2006. These increased mintages are all due to such a high demand for the coin. Weighing in at 31.1 grams, the Silver Maple Leaf has a fairly standard weight for silver coins. Something some people find strange about the Silver Maple Leaf is that the Royal Mint only mints one size of the coin as opposed to nations like China who mint multiple sizes of the same coin.

Buying Silver Maple Leafs

Since its release in 1989, the Silver Maple Leaf’s popularity has been climbing and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. This is evident in the almost annual increase in mintages that the coins undergo. Silver Maple Leafs are very attractive and this fact alone is enough to draw in collectors and investors alike. This is yet another coin that North American buyers flock to because it is produced right here at home.

Sites like Apmex and a multitude of others offer great prices and large selections on Maple Leafs, so finding the right coin should not be difficult. Coins from years with smaller mintages will tend to be more pricy than coins from recent years who’s mintages surpassed 2 million.