Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf facts for kids

The Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf is a special platinum coin from Canada. It's made of pure platinum and is considered a "bullion" coin. This means its value comes mostly from the metal it's made of. The Royal Canadian Mint first made these coins in 1988. They were available in different sizes until 2002.

These coins are made of very pure platinum. They are marked as .9995 pure. In 2009, the 1 troy ounce coin was brought back. This newer version is even purer, at .9999 platinum. It also features a newer picture of Queen Elizabeth II on the front. Even though these coins have a face value (like $50), their real value is usually much higher. This is because the price of platinum changes every day.

What is the Maple Leaf Coin Series?

The story of the Canadian Maple Leaf coins began in 1979. That's when the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) first made the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin. This gold coin was very pure, containing 1 troy ounce of .999 pure gold. Later, in 1984, they made it even purer, at .9999 gold.

The Gold Maple Leaf coin became very popular around the world. It was known as "the world's most successful gold coin." Because of this big success, the Mint decided to make more types of Maple Leaf coins. In 1988, they added silver and platinum versions to the series. At that time, Canada was the third-largest producer of platinum in the world.

History of the Platinum Maple Leaf

When Production Started

The first Platinum Maple Leaf coins were made on September 22, 1988. This was a special event for the Royal Canadian Mint. The first Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coin was also made on the same day. A special guest from Japan, Junichiro Tanaka, helped make the first platinum coin. He used a huge coin press that weighed 140 tonnes.

Gold Maple Leaf coins were very popular in Japan. Over 1.1 million ounces of gold coins were sold there from 1984. This showed how much people liked Canadian coins.

First Sales and Denominations

Both the platinum and silver coins went on sale to the public on November 17, 1988. The platinum coins were made of .9995 pure platinum. They came in four different sizes:

• 1 troy ounce (oz)
• 1⁄2 oz
• 1⁄4 oz
• 1⁄10 oz

These coins had face values of $50, $20, $10, and $5. However, their true value changes daily based on the price of platinum. The coins featured a picture of Queen Elizabeth II designed by Arnold Machin. This design was used on Canadian coins until 1989. In 1993, a smaller 1⁄20 oz platinum coin was released. It had a face value of $1 and was meant for smaller investors.

Changes in Platinum Value

In December 1988, a company called Ford Motor Company announced something new. They were testing a material that could replace platinum in catalytic converters. This made some people worried that platinum coin sales would drop. The car industry used a lot of platinum, about one-third of it.

Even with these worries, sales of the Platinum Maple Leaf coins actually grew. From 1990 to 1991, sales more than doubled. They went from 18,000 ounces to 39,000 ounces. This happened because the price of platinum had "dropped substantially." For a short time in 1991, platinum was even cheaper than gold.

However, things changed later in the 1990s. More people became interested in platinum, and its price went up quickly. Because of these big price changes, the platinum market became less stable. The Royal Canadian Mint stopped making Platinum Maple Leaf coins after 2002. But they started making them again in 2009. The new coins featured a different picture of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Susanna Blunt in 2003. In 2012, the Platinum Maple Leaf was known as "the world's best selling platinum coin."

Series Overview

See also

• American Platinum Eagle
• Bullion
• Bullion coin
• Inflation hedge
• Platinum as an investment
• Platinum Koala
• Platinum Panda