Canada started their silver bullion coin series in 1988 with the introduction of the 1 troy oz Silver Maple Leaf. Produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, Silver Maple Leaf coins are made of 99.99% pure silver and each coin has a face value of $5 Canadian dollars. This is the highest face value of any silver bullion coin in the world, but of course the coin's real value is tied to the market price of silver.
In addition to issuing a dated coin annually, the Royal Canadian Mint has also done a variety of special issues for the Silver Maple Leaf. 1989 is the only year in which the mint issue a proof version of the coin, so naturally that's a highly collectible issue.
Starting in 1999, the Mint spent a couple of years issuing the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins with a privy mark. For 1999, the privy mark celebrated the 20th anniversary of the coin's issue. Then in 2000, all of the Silver Maple Leafs featured a fireworks privy mark. There was also a dual-dated issue to celebrate the Millennium, that featured a fireworks privy mark as well as the dates 1999 and 2000.
Each Canadian Silver Maple Leaf features an image of the Maple Leaf on the reverse and the obverse has a portrait of Elizabeth II. Over the years the portraits (a total of three) have varied to show a profile of the Queen at different ages in her life.
In addition to official coins, collectors interested in other Canadian silver might be interested in some of the silver maple leaf art bars that you can find. These are manufactured by private mints and are usually quite popular to collect.
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