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The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is the official bullion gold coin of Canada and is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. The brainchild of Walter Ott, it is the purest gold coin of regular issue in the world, with a gold content of .9999 millesimal fineness (24 carats). That is, it contains virtually no base metals at all – only gold exclusively from gold mines in Canada.

The coin was first introduced in 1979. At that time, the only available bullion coin was the Krugerrand, which was not widely available because of an economic boycott of apartheid-era South Africa. Coins minted between 1979 and 1981 have gold content of .999.

The coin is offered in 1/20 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz denominations and is guaranteed to contain the stated amount (in troy ounces) of .9999 fine gold (24 carat). The coins have legal tender status in Canada, but as is often the case with bullion coins, the face values of these coins (C$1, C$5, C$10, C$20 and C$50) are purely symbolic and are much lower than their true value.

The 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2 troy oz coins are identical in design to the 1 troy oz coin except for the markings on the obverse and reverse sides that indicate the weight and face value of the coin. In 1994, 1/15 oz ($2.00 face value) gold and platinum coins were issued, possibly for use in jewelry. They were not very successful, and so 1994 remains the only year in which 1/15 oz gold and platinum bullion coins were produced.

Starting in 1988, Maple Leaf coins have also been struck in .9995-fine platinum, having the same weights and face values as the gold coins. Since 1988, a one ounce .9999-fine silver Maple Leaf has also been struck, with a face value of 5 dollars. In 2005, a .9995-fine palladium Maple Leaf 1 oz coin was introduced, with a face value of 50 dollars. The palladium Maple Leaf is subject to the federal GST in Canada.

On May 3, 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a Gold Maple Leaf coin with a face value of One Million Dollars, though the gold content was worth over $2 million at the time. It measures 50 cm in diameter by 3 cm thick and weighs 100 kilograms, with a purity of 99.999%. The artist is Stanley Witten. The coin is mainly a promotional product to give the mint a higher international profile. The 100-kilogram coin was conceived as a one-off showpiece to promote the mint’s new line of 99.999 per cent pure one ounce Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins but after several interested buyers came forward the mint announced it would manufacture them as ordered and sell them for between $2.5 million and $3 million. As of May 3 2007 there were five confirmed orders

The ducat (IPA: [?d?k?t]) is a gold coin that was used as a trade currency throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, AGW, actual gold weight.

The American Buffalo is a 24-karat gold bullion coin first offered for sale by the United States Mint on June 22, 2006, and due to be available for shipment on July 13. This will be the first time ever that the United States Government has minted pure (.9999) 24-karat gold coins for the public. The coin has a legal tender (face) value of $50 U.S. Dollars.

Buy American Buffalo Bullion Coins 

A Krugerrand is a South African gold coin, first minted in 1967 in order to help market South African gold. The coins have legal tender status in South Africa but are not actually intended to be used as currency.

The Krugerrand was the first bullion coin to be tenderable at the market value of its face gold content; by contrast, earlier gold coins such as the sterling Sovereign had a tender value in currency engraved on their face, which could be completely divorced from their market value. The Krugerrand was the first gold coin to contain precisely one ounce of fine gold, and was intended from the moment of creation to provide a vehicle for the private ownership of gold. By bestowing legal tender status upon the coin, Krugerrands could be owned by citizens of the United States, which at that time prohibited private ownership of bullion but allowed ownership of foreign coins. However, due to the policy of apartheid in South Africa, the Krugerrand was declared illegal to import in many Western countries during the 1970s and 1980s until such system was lifted between 1990 and 1994.

Originally, it was sold at a premium of 5% over the base gold value, and only one size of coin was made, containing one troy ounce (31.1035 g) of gold. Since the Krugerrand was minted from gold alloy being 91.67% pure (22 karats), the actual weight of a “one ounce” coin is 1.0909 ounces (33.93 g). The remainder of the coin’s mass is made up of copper (2.826 grams), giving the Krugerrand a more orange appearance than silver-alloyed gold coins. Alloys are used to make gold coins harder and more durable, so they can resist scratches and dents during handling. In 1980, three other sizes were introduced, offering a half, quarter, and tenth ounce weights. In total, 54.5 million coins have been sold.

Krugerrands are a popular way to invest in gold because their gold content is exactly one troy ounce.

Krugerrands are a popular way to invest in gold because their gold content is exactly one troy ounce.

The Krugerrand gets its name from the fact that the obverse shows the face of Paul Kruger, president of the old South African Republic. The reverse depicts a springbok, one of the national symbols of South Africa. The name “South Africa” and the gold content are printed in both Afrikaans and English.

The success of the Krugerrand led to many other gold-producing nations minting their own bullion coins, including the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf in 1979, the Australian Nugget in 1981, and the American Gold Eagle in 1986.

Krugerrands proved to be a very popular way of investing in gold because their gold content of exactly one ounce made them easy to value.
Size Face Value (Rand) Weight (g) Fineness 1.000 Gold Content (g) Gold Content (Troy)
Full 10 33.9305 .917 31.104 1.0000
Half 5 16.9653 .917 15.552 0.5000
Quarter 2.5 8.4826 .917 7.776 0.2500
Tenth 1 3.3931 .917 3.110 0.1000