Canadian Gold Coin Collecting

American gold eagles were used as well as english gold currency such as guineas and sovereigns. Portuguese and French gold coins were also used in trade.

The first gold coins produced were the two dollar Canadian gold coin from the province of Newfoundland in 1862. The two dollar Canadian gold coin was chosen because gold was so valuable that a gold dollar would have been too small and too easy to lose.

One side of the two-dollar coin shows a bust of Victoria and the name NEWFOUNDLAND. On the other side is the date and value, shown in three ways: 2 DOLLARS, TWO HUNDRED CENTS and ONE HUNDRED PENCE.

Newfoundland two dollar coins were minted in 1865, 1870, 1872, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885 and 1888. All of these canadian gold coins were produced in the Royal Mint in London, England.

The 1882 issue, however, was made by the mint operated by Ralph Heaton and Sons in Birmingham. That coin has a tiny ‘H’ mint mark below its date. All of these two dollar pieces are rare since few were minted. The 1880 Canadian gold coin is particularly scarce.

In 1908, A branch of englands royal mint opened in Ottawa, Ontario. This new canadian mint started producing gold coins nationally. The first canadian gold coin was an exact copy of the british gold sovereign but with a small "c" mint mark added.

Canadian Sovereigns were .917 fine gold and weighed about 8 grams. The bust of King Edward VII appeared on them from 1908-10. The bust of George V appeared on the 1911-19 coins. The opposite side of both coins shows a characterization of the legend of Saint George slaying the dragon.

It is on this side that the mint mark is located, just below the scene depicting Saint George. The rarest of these Canadian Sovereigns are the 1908, 1913, 1914 and 1916 issues.

The first canadian gold coin showing Canadian imagery was made in 1912 and continued through 1914. These were five and ten dollar gold pieces both made with a .900 fineness. These coins were made identical to the size and weight of american five and ten dollar gold coins.

One side features a portrait of King George V. On the other side is the national coat of arms combined with two boughs of maple. Above this is the name CANADA, while the date of coinage is below. The value, either FIVE DOLLARS or TEN DOLLARS, appears below the date.

These coins are not rare but the 1914 versions are more scarce due to a world war one ban on gold payments that stopped all gold coin production at the mint.

The royal canadian mint produced no more gold coins until 1967. That year was the 100th anniversary of Canada's Confederation. The mint produced a complete set of coins including a twenty dollar proof gold coin, silver fifty, twenty five, and ten cents, and base metal five cents and one cent celebrating canada's national birthday.

The success of this issue led to many more commemorative issues specially made for collectors in denominations of one hundred, one hundred seventy five and two hundred dollars.

Canadian Gold Maple Leaf

In 1979 the Maple Leaf gold coin was introduced as the purest gold coin in the world with a gold content of .9999 fine gold. The 24 karat gold maple leafs closest competition at the time was the 22 karat gold South African krugerrand.

The gold maple leaf contains gold mined only from Canadian mines. The maple leaf quickly outsold the krugerrand and has been popular ever since. From 1979 through 1981 only the one ounce Maple Leaf was available with a face value of $50. In 1982 production of a 1/10 and 1/4 Maple Leaf began. In 1986, a Half Maple Leaf was added.

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is a departure from previous gold coins because it does not use alloys to make it longer lasting in circulation. It was not meant to be handled. It is simply meant to be collected and used as an investment. The Maple Leaf Coin is particularly popular in India and the Far East where pure gold has always been highly valued.

Gold maple leafs have remained unchanged since the first issue. One side features the maple leaf, and the other side Queen Elizabeth II. It holds a nominal value of $50 Canadian. The coin is available now in one twentieth, one tenth, a quarter and one half troy ounces as well as the original and traditional one ounce coins.

All maple leafs are legal tender in Canada but the face value is so far below the value of the gold content that no one would use one in their pocket change! In addition to being the purest gold, the maple leaf is considered one of the most beautiful of the gold bullion coins and is often collected just for this reason.

One highly collectible issue of the Canadian maple leaf is the proof gold maple sets made in 1989. Proof sets had not been made available to the public before 1989 and the mint has never made proof sets available since. These sets represent a great investment if you can find one, with only 6823 minted, they are the rarest of all Canadian Maple leaf gold coins. These sets can be recognized by their solid maple wood presentation case.

The World's Purest Gold Coins

In 1998, Canada introduced a new gold coin with a face value of $350. Once again the objective was to produce the worlds purest gold coin. This time It was produced in gold which is 99.999%. Previously, the purest gold coins were produced in 99.99% pure gold.

While only an assayer could determine the difference between this new "five nines" gold coin and the previous maple leaf, its creation is largely a marketing strategy. Canada wants to be known as the source of the worlds purest gold.

One Million Dollar Gold Coin

Canada's quest to be the purest and the best reached new heights on May 3rd 2007 when the royal Canadian mint produced the first one million dollar face value Gold Maple Leaf coin. It has a gold content of 100 kilograms and a purity of 99.999 percent.

It must also be one of the worlds largest coins weighing in at more than 200 lbs! It was designed by artist, Stanley Witten, with the idea of increasing the visibility of the mint to the world. This has been accomplished with several buyers lining up and 5 confirmed orders for the 2 million dollar value coin.

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