5630 Dunbar St. at 41st Ave.
604-684-4613

Newsletter # 19, October 15, 2001

Raking up the leaves...

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The Royal Canadian Mint turned over two new leaves this Autumn in their expanding bullion/collectibles series. A three leafed, green boxed, colourized, limited edition of 50,000, painted in Autumn colours, Silver Maple Leaf is available for Cdn $34.95. The three maple leaves are similar to the longtime Mint design used on the current cent. This coin is more attractive than it's colourized American counterpart.

Also available, in a limited edition of 30,000, is a reverse proof, red boxed, holographic design Silver Maple Leaf, with the Chinese words for "auspicious maple," under the 2001 date, for $49.95.

Silver Maple Leaves and Holographic images have been aggresively produced for the Asian-Canadian and international Asian collector communities in recent years.

The popular, pure one ounce silver Maple Leaf Series began in 1988, as a plastic wrapped, nominally valued at Cdn$5 face value, bullion coin. Sought after by bullion bugs, and thaler-type coin collectors for it's affordability, purity, and attractive appearance, the Silver Maple Leaf series is a Canadian sleeper.

Annual editions normally appear in the Spring. The Maple Leaf's tenth anniversary in 1998 saw a profusion of collector versions, as the Mint sought to market this large silver coin series more successfully. A hockey puck sized, ten ounce, black boxed, jumbo Silver Maple Leaf can still be had for the $199.95 issue price.

Sadly, the standard Canadian coin catalogues fail to fully list the Silver Maple Leaves. A partial list follows:

Basic 1988-2001 dated Uncirculated singles, with RCM rigid plastic packaging--usually available at between $14.95 and $19.95 each.

In 1993 and 1994 the Mint produced blue boxed versions sometimes offered as premiums to valued clients.

Privy marked annual versions began in 1998, with a 90th Anniversary of the R.C.M. limited edition of 25,000, now worth $40-50., and a special edition Titanic privy mark.

The Titanic privy mark, made for a secretive American Bullion marketing firm, is the toughest to acquire--fetching around $200 if one can be found at any price.

A joint issue with the Post Office, R.C.M.P. privy mark also appeared in 1998. This is the next most costly privy marked Silver Maple Leaf at $79.95.

The reverse proof, annual limited editions of 25,000 lunar new year privy marked Silver Maple Leaves also began in 1998. These are normally accompanied by Mint guarantee certificates, somewhat unnecessary as the purity marks, years, and face values appear on the coins, but the tickets help justify higher market values of $28.88 each. Thus, so far Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, and Snake privy marked Silver Maple Leaves are available.

1999 brought a boxed proof one ounce Silver Maple Leaf, which also trades in the $40-50. range, a dual dated 1999/2000 Silver Maple Leaf, and a Millennium fireworks privy marked Maple Leaf. The fireworks privy mark appears again on 2000 dated pieces.

A special edition Silver Maple Leaf, privy marked for the 2000 Hanover, Germany Exposition fetches $30-40.

Special cases are now available, from several manufacturers, to house the Silver Maple Leaves, but we generally suggest crown-sized coin pages, made for a standard ring binder, for storing the coins from this interesting and growing series.

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Newsletter #20
An Indispensible Reference

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