Our Northern Neighbors Celebrate 30 Years of Silver

With the North American Free Trade Deal in the news, our northern neighbors are getting more attention than usual. For coin collectors, Canada offers a way to add interesting items to a collection without having to even leave North America, and one coin from the Royal Canadian Mint that is a long-standing favorite is the Silver Maple Leaf Bullion $20 Coin. This coin contains 1 ounce (31.39 grams) of 99.99% pure silver. It as been 30 years since this coin was first struck, and to celebrate that, the Mint is releasing a special coin. With a mintage of just 6,500 coins, rarity is going to be an important factor in the future value of this coin to collectors.

The Silver Maple Leaf coin has been a standard coin for silver bullion, and so this is an event worth celebrating. To make it extra special, the coin will be a double-incuse design. An incuse design is one where the design is stamped into the surface, rather than the surrounding field being stamped back, leaving the design in raised relief. Incuse designs were made for circulation coins in the early years of the 20^th century, in America, under Theodore Roosevelt. The purpose is to create a coin with a longer ‘handling life’, since the design will not be worn down so quickly. For the first time on a Canadian coin, the designs on both the obverse and reverse are incuse struck, making this a double-incuse coin.

On the reverse the coin has the original maple leaf design from 1988. This design was created by Walter Ott. This is the same design as used on the Maple Leaf gold bullion coin, and it has become a symbol of Canada and its coins. The realistic sugar maple leaf is surrounded by the words, CANADA” and FINE SILVER 1OZ ARGENT PUR, and the purity standard, 9999.

The obverse shows the profile of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the head of state of Canada. The design is by Susanna Blunt. The issue date, 2018 and the face value of 20 DOLLARS surrounds the bust. To show that this is a commemorative coin, the beveled edge has embossed in it on opposite side the number 30.

The coin is encapsulated, and it comes in a presentation ‘clamshell’ box. In addition, each coin is accompanied by a Certificate of Authentication, numbered from 1 to 6,500. Typically, lower numbers of certified items are slightly more valuable, so early buyers get a potential bonus.

This time next year will see the release of a Commemorative Gold Maple Leaf coin, to mark 40 years since those coins were first struck. Details are not yet available, but we can assume that coin will be similarly unique.