Silver Coin Information
The Silver Maple Leaf is a silver bullion coin issued by Canada. The coins have been released continuously since 1988 and are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. The silver bullion coin was created following the success of the Gold Maple Leaf.
The obverse of the coin displays the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. Throughout the years, three different versions have been used. The obverse inscriptions include “Elizabeth II”, the legal tender face value “5 Dollars” and the date. The reverse of the coin features the Maple Leaf, which is the national emblem of Canada. The inscriptions include “Canada”, “9999 Fine Silver”, “9999 Argent Pur”, and “1 oz”.
Each standard Silver Maple Leaf contains 1 troy ounce of silver with a purity of 99.99%. Over the years, there have been special issues, which included a proof version of the coin, different denominations of the coin, special privy marks, colorized coins, and holographic coins.
The overall mintages for Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins varied for each year based on demand. Some years have particularly high mintages such as the first three years of issue from 1988 to 1990, driven by demand for the new silver bullion coin. The initial high point was reach in 1989 with 3,332,200 Silver Maple Leafs produced. High mintages have also been experienced for recent years from 2006 to present, as worldwide demand for silver bullion contributed to strong sales. Low mintage figures for the series were experienced in 1996 and 1997 when only 250,445 and 100,970 pieces were produced for each year, respectively.
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Coin Specifications
Dates: 1988 – present
Mint: Royal Canadian Mint
Weight: 31.104 grams
Composition: 99.99% silver
Silver Content: 31.1 grams
Diameter: 38.00 mm