Skip to content
ROYAL CANADIAN MINT
About the Mint
Located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and founded on January 2nd, 1908, The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) has been producing Canada’s circulation coins as well as coinage for other countries for approximately 110 years. Being a “Crown Corporation”, the Royal Canadian Mint is under control of the Government of Canada or more officially know as “Her Majesty's Government” and headed by current President and CEO Jennifer Camelon (2018). Shares of the Royal Canadian Mint are in trust of the Crown in right of Canada.
Though the RCM is under Government control and supervision it still operates like a standard commercial, for-profit, company and competes to rely on sustaining itself through profits rather than taxpayer dollars. Since this likeness to a private-sector company the RCM maintains a Board of Directors. Of these members are the “Master of the Mint” and “Chair”. The Chair is answerable to Canada’s Minister of Finance, the person linking the Mint to Parliament and Cabinet.
The denominations of coins circulating in Canada are based similarly to United States coinage with the exception of the $2 coin. Many of which are very close with the actual sizes of American coins. With all circulation coins minted from the Royal Canadian Mint is a representation of the Monarch, some having a mint mark. Along with the circulated coins, the RCM produces other products such as medals, tokens, bars, jewelry-quality grain, bullion coins and an array of commemorative coins including Disney® and Star Wars® coins.
Many of the commemorative coins are limited in release creating a demand that is easily met by collectors worldwide. Some coins feature colored paint for added aesthetics. The first colored coins to circulate within the Canadian economy were struck in the year of 2004. This set a historical landmark for numismatic pieces created by a government. In addition to these beautifully struck coins and medals are services rendered for refining and assaying precious metals.
RCM Mint Product Lineup
- Gold Canadian Maple Leaf
- Silver Canadian Maple Leaf
- Platinum Canadian Maple Leaf
- 10 oz RCM Silver Bar
Canadian Commemorative!
Among striking coinage for Canada, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued coins to many other countries. Dominican Republic, Singapore, Cuba, Norway, Thailand, Uganda, and New Zealand are some of the countries that comprise a large list of countries the RCM has contracted with to create high quality, government coins.
An example of colorized coinage by the Royal Canadian Mint circa 2011.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
There are many styles of coins made by the Royal Canadian Mint like King George V, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II, and iconic Maple Leaf designs. Both the Gold and Silver (also available in Platinum and Palladium) variants of the Maple Leaf coin are world renown for quality and a staple of craftsmanship and wealth. In fact, more than 30,000,000 Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coins have been struck since production began in 1979.
With more than enough times to practice, the Royal Canadian Mint has innovated new and more precise ways to not only Mint the Coins but to refine the metal itself. RCM is at the forefront of assaying and refining technology and was the first Mint to produce .9999 and later .99999 purity levels in their bullion products.
An example of a early production .9999% Silver Canadian Maple Leaf. Some specimens had slight milking. Circa 2015.
The 1 million dollar coin.
To promote this incredible feat, the Royal Canadian Mint produced the Guinness World Record breaking coin with a face value of $1,000,000 CAD. Holding the record for not only the most pure coin in the world but the most expense coin weighing in at 100 kg of the purest Gold you could get at the time. This coin held the record until the Australian Perth Mint casted a coin that weighs a shocking 1 tonne commemorating their Kangaroo series of coins.
Speaking of a 100 kg Gold Canadian Maple Leaf, RCM mints these coins in a wide variety of sizes. Those sizes include 1 gram, 1/25th oz, 1/20th oz, 1/10th oz, 1/4th oz, ½ oz and 1 troy ounce. This makes stacking sought after Canadian Gold affordable for any ones budget and these are very popular on our Fire Sale page and make appearances often in our subscription crates that contain Gold.
The buck does not stop at Gold Coins for the Royal Canadian Mint, no. Their Silver Coin line ups are vastly unique and like their ability to refine Gold, they remain at the forefront of all precious metallurgy and provide Silver at .9999% purities. Beyond their newest 1 oz 2020 Silver Canadian Maple Leaf they have a huge selection of animal themed coins. Themed coins released periodically in special commemorative series such as the “Canadian Wildlife series,” “Birds of Prey series,” and “Predator Series.”
On display is the 100 kilogram Gold Canadian Maple Leaf with a face value of $1,000,000 CAD circa 2010. At the time it was the biggest and most expensive coin on the planet.
Unlike most Mints though, these series of coins are not necessarily rare in that their mintage numbers are generally a million ounces of each coin. This means if you want them, you can likely get your hands on them and they are not usually subject to insanely high premiums. They also come in some odd but neat weights such as 3/4th oz and 1.5 oz sizes.
The 1 oz Silver Canadian Maple Leaf is easily one of the most popular vehicles for Silver investing, with low premiums, quality craftsmanship and extremely high levels of Silver purity which means they make frequent appearances in our Silver Crate. From 1988-2014 over 155,000,000 of them have been produced and a fair share of them move through our very own facilities in Provo, UT and Dallas, TX.
Platinum and Palladium Canadian Maple Leaf Coins have grown in popularity with the recent market hike. Both Platinum and Palladium have seen 2019 annual gains and Palladium has recently skyrocketed to over $1000 dollars more per ounce than this time last year in what will prove to be historical and record-breaking rally. Though mintage levels of the Platinum and Palladium Coins from Canada, Russia, Britain and the U.S. Mints are relatively low compared to their Gold and Silver counterparts.
The Royal Canadian Mint is also one of the few Government Mints who produce bullion bars both in Gold and Silver. For their Gold variants, RCM produces 1 oz, 1000 gram and for a short time produced “legal tender bars” in 1/10 oz denominations. They also produce 10 oz and 100 troy ounce Silver bars and had a short run of something called a “flex bar” which came in 1/20, 1/10 and 1/4th oz sizes.
Basically, if your stacking needs are not met by our friendly neighbors to the north, your way too picky! If you guys enjoyed this write up and want to see us release a “Royal Canadian Crate” in the future make sure to smash that like button and share this with your friends on Facebook eh!
Other Popular World Mints
Government Mints
- The Royal Mint (UK)
- The United States Mint (US)
- The Perth Mint (Australia)
- The Mexican Mint (Mexico)
- The Austrian Mint (Austria)
- The South African Mint (South Africa)
- The LEV
- Other World World Mints
This is 100% my favorite mint. They really do the best work
The Royal Canadian Mint has some of the most beautiful coins I have ever seen.
might have to expand my horizons to this
hmmmmm…only ever bought American mint silver…might have to expand my horizons
The Royal Canadian Mint makes some of the most beautiful and innovative coins available.