Royal Canadian Mint: the Mint Behind the Maple Leaf
Royal Canadian Mint is Canada’s state mint, based in Ottawa. As a Crown corporation it is owned by the Canadian state and runs its own LBMA-listed gold refinery. Its best-known investment product is the Gold Maple Leaf, issued since 1979.
A short history
On 2 January 1908 a branch of the British Royal Mint opened in Ottawa. Until 1931 the mint was thus an offshoot of the British Royal Mint; in December 1931 it became the Royal Canadian Mint. Since April 1969, under the Royal Canadian Mint Act, it has been a Crown corporation, i.e. a state-owned company.
A second plant was built in Winnipeg; construction began in 1972 and it officially opened in 1976.
Its own refinery in Ottawa
The Royal Canadian Mint runs its own gold refinery in Ottawa. It first purifies raw gold to 995 parts per thousand using the Miller chlorination process and then to 999.9 using the electrolytic Wohlwill process. According to the LBMA, the refinery has been on the Good Delivery List for gold since around 1919.
The mint can therefore refine mined gold itself and turn it into coins – similar to the Perth Mint, but unlike many European mints.
In the Miller process, chlorine gas is passed through the molten raw gold; base metals and silver combine with the chlorine and are separated. The Wohlwill process is an electrolysis: the gold dissolves at the anode and is deposited at the cathode in very pure form. In 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint struck Maple Leaf coins at 999.99 for the first time, including a coin with a face value of CAD 200.
The Gold Maple Leaf
The Gold Maple Leaf came onto the market in 1979 as a one-ounce coin. The first years up to 1982 had a fineness of 999; since November 1982 it has been 999.9. The face value of the ounce is 50 Canadian dollars. The reverse shows a maple leaf, the obverse the monarch – since 2024 King Charles III.
Besides the ounce there are smaller sizes: 1/2, 1/4, 1/10, 1/20 and 1/25 ounce and 1 g. In special editions the Royal Canadian Mint has also struck gold at 999.99, for example in 2007. The 100 kg ‘Big Maple Leaf’ coin became famous when one example was stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin in 2017.
The 999.99 editions do not replace the regular 999.9 coin but appear as limited special series. The ‘Big Maple Leaf’ has a face value of one million Canadian dollars; the Royal Canadian Mint made five of them.
| Size | Face value |
|---|---|
| 1 ounce | CAD 50 |
| 1/2 ounce | CAD 20 |
| 1/4 ounce | CAD 10 |
| 1/10 ounce | CAD 5 |
| 1/20 ounce | CAD 1 |
| 1/25 ounce | CAD 0.50 |
Security features
Since 2013 the Maple Leaf has carried a small laser-engraved maple leaf in which the year is visible only under magnification. Since 2015 fine radial lines in the background of both sides have been added. Both features are meant to make counterfeiting harder and make checking easier for dealers.
The Maple Leaf compared
At 999.9, the Maple Leaf is one of the fine gold bullion coins, as are the Vienna Philharmonic, the American Buffalo and the Britannia since 2013. The Krugerrand and the American Eagle, by contrast, are made of 22-carat gold. Alloys with copper or silver make gold coins more durable; fine gold is softer.
Alongside the Perth Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint is the second large state mint in this section with its own LBMA-listed refinery.
