Some of the most beautiful coins in the world today are struck by the Royal Canadian Mint. One of the world’s leading mints, RCM is well known not only for its popular annual release programs and beautiful coinage designs, but also for the impressive .9999 purity used in the vast majority of its bullion and proof coin programs.
Without question, the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is the best-selling coin from the Royal Canadian Mint. The nation’s official silver bullion coin, this product is unlike any other on the market for one big reason. While competitors like the American Silver Eagle or British Silver Britannia offer bullion and proof options, only the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf regularly features privy marks.
The addition of privy marks to silver coins was originally used only as a means of identifying the specific mint that struck a coin. Today though, privy marks are used in conjunction with one-time design additions and low mintage figures to drive increased demand for collectible silver options. Explore the many Privy Mark Silver Maple Leafs available from JM Bullion, and you just might be able to add diversity to your collection.
Brief History of the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Coin
As the official silver bullion coin of the nation of Canada, the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coin has been in production since 1988. It is not uncommon for sovereign mints to introduce official bullion coins in various precious metals. For example, the US Mint and Chinese Mint produce the American Eagle and Chinese Panda coins in gold, silver, and platinum, and gold and silver, respectively.
What is unique about the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is the gap in time between the introduction of its gold and silver variants. The US Mint introduced the American Eagle in silver and gold in the same year, while the Chinese Mint took five years in between the introduction of the respective programs. The Royal Canadian Mint waited almost a decade to introduce the Silver Maple Leaf following the 1979 unveiling of the Gold Maple Leaf coin.
This isn’t to say the Silver Maple Leaf isn’t a special coin in its own right. The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf was the first bullion coin in the world struck in .9999 pure silver. Each one of the coins bears the same image on the reverse and obverse each year, and is issued with a face value of $5 (CAD) that is backed by the Canadian government.
Wild Canada Privy Mark Coin Series
The Royal Canadian Mint is ready to celebrate the popularity of the Canadian Wildlife Series silver coins by launching a new, limited-edition Wild Canada Coin series that combines two of the mint’s most popular designs. The planned six-coin program will launch over the course of three years and feature six different coins, just like the original Canadian Wildlife Series.
However, instead of individual coins featuring the original images as the main design concept, the Royal Canadian Mint is combining its popular Canadian Silver Maple Leaf series by offering them up with privy marks honoring the Canadian Wildlife Series. The following are the important highlights for the upcoming Wild Canada Coin Series:
- Mintage strictly limited to 50,000 coins per design.
- Two coins released each year over three years.
- Reverse bears the famous Sugar Maple Leaf design from the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf.
- Unique privy marks honoring the original Canadian Wildlife Series designs.
- Struck in Reverse Proof Finish.
- Coins will ship in individual flips, sealed mint tubes of 25, or Monster Boxes of 500.
Design of Wild Canada Series Coins
On the reverse side of all Wild Canada Series coins you’ll find the sugar maple leaf design that has become so famous on the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf. All of the engravings commonly found on that coin program will persist on the Wild Canada Series coins, with an additional privy mark for each of the Canadian Wildlife Series designs featured to the bottom left of the maple leaf. A total of six privy mark coins will be released, featuring the wolf, grizzly bear, cougar, moose, antelope, and wood bison.
The obverse side will feature Queen Elizabeth II’s right-profile image as created by Susanna Blunt, and used on the obverse of all Royal Canadian Mint bullion products. These coins will all be struck in brilliant reverse proof. A reverse proof coin features a frosted background field, with a mirror-like finish on the design set.
Privy Silver Maple Leaf Zodiac Series Coins
The Royal Canadian Mint did not start its celebration of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, often referred to as the Zodiac in Western society, with a unique coin of its own. Rather, the Mint opted to produce a Privy Silver Maple Leaf with special marks honoring the animal represented on the Zodiac in a given year. Also differing from many other mints, it started with a year other than the Year of the Rat.
Privy Silver Maple Leaf coins with Zodiac markings were first introduced in 1998 with the Year of the Tiger. Each of the coins featured a privy mark designed by Walter Ott and the Royal Canadian Mint Engravers. Mintage of these coins was limited to just 25,000 on an annual basis. The series ran a full course of 12 years through the Zodiac, representing all of the animals on the Lunar Calendar.
The series was so popular that the Royal Canadian Mint embarked upon a second Zodiac Series of Privy Silver Maple Leaf coins in 2012. The first design honored the Year of the Dragon, and has featured Year of the Snake, Year of the Horse, Year of the Goat, Year of the Monkey, and Year of the Rooster privy marks on the popular Silver Maple Leaf coin. These coins started with the same mintage as the original series (25,000), but due to demand the Royal Canadian Mint bumped production up to an estimated 85,000 annually.
Bigfoot Privy Mark Silver Maple Leaf
Big Foot is believed to be a simian-like creature from American folklore that is said to inhabit forests across the North American continent. These supposed bipedal humanoids are sighted in the greatest numbers in the Pacific Northwest, but similar creatures have been spotted in the Eastern US, the states of Florida and Louisiana, and even in the Himalaya Mountains of Central Asia. Each 2016 1 oz Big Foot Privy Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Coin:
- Arrives in a protective plastic flip or mint plastic tube of 25 coins.
- Unique Big Foot Privy mark!
- Limited mintage of only 50,000 coins!
- Reverse proof finish!
- Contains 1 Troy oz of .9999 pure silver.
- Face value of $5 (CAD) is fully backed by the government of Canada.
- Obverse includes the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Reverse depicts the Sugar Maple Leaf design with Big Foot privy mark!
The 2016 1 oz Big Foot Privy Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Coin has a reverse proof finish. Coins with a reverse proof finish have a strong, frosted background field that is offset by the striking beauty of the deeply-mirrored, clear field of the design sets.
On the reverse of each coin you’ll find the image of the Sugar Maple Leaf used on the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins since their 1988 introduction. The Big Foot Privy mark featured on these coins comes from the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film that purported to show a Big Foot in the wilds of northern California.
Tank Privy Mark Silver Maple Leaf
The Mark V tank was one of the first rumbling mechanical beasts to hit the battlefields of Europe during World War I. The world’s first mechanized war, tanks played a relatively minor role in the conflict, but offered a precursor of things to come in World War II. To mark the 100th anniversary of their introduction, the Mark V appears as a privy mark on the 2016 1 oz Tank Privy Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Reverse Proof Coin. Each of these silver coins:
- Arrives in a protective plastic flip or mint plastic tube of 25 coins.
- Unique Mark V Tank Privy mark!
- Limited mintage of only 50,000 coins!
- Reverse proof finish!
- Contains 1 Troy oz of .9999 pure silver.
- Issued a face value of $5 (CAD) by the Canadian government.
- Obverse includes the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Reverse depicts the Sugar Maple Leaf design with Mark V tank privy mark!
The Mark tank series from the United Kingdom made its debut on the battlefields of Europe in 1916, at a point in time during World War I when the conflict was mired in deadly trench conflict. The Mark V tank was first deployed in 1918 during the closing months of the war, and would feature in the Allied intervention in Russia’s Civil War between the White Russians (royal sympathizers) and the Red Army of the Soviets.
On the reverse of each coin you’ll find the image of the Sugar Maple Leaf used on the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins since their 1988 introduction. The Mark V Privy mark featured on these coins is a direct reflection of the actual tanks introduced by the British during World War I, and marks 100 years since the mechanic beasts roamed the battlefields of Europe.
Four Leaf Clover Privy Mark Silver Maple Leaf
There are many symbols of good luck in this world, from a horseshoe hung over a doorway to a rabbit’s foot. Arguably the most recognizable and commonly referenced is the four-leaf clover. A rare variation on the typical three-leaf clover (faith, hope, love), that four leaf represents luck and gives the four-leaf clover its association with luck. The 2016 Four Leaf Clover Privy Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Reverse Proof Coin:
- Arrives in a protective plastic capsule.
- Limited mintage of only 50,000 coins!
- Contains 1 Troy oz of .9999 pure silver.
- Issued a face value of $5 (CAD) by the Canadian government.
- Bears a grade of PF70 from the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.
- Features a four-leaf clover privy mark on the reverse.
- Sugar maple leaf on the reverse.
- Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait on the obverse.
- Reverse proof specimen.
On the coin’s reverse face you’ll find the iconic sugar maple leaf design, surrounded by standard engravings of the nation of issue, purity, weight, and metal content of the coin. The four-leaf clover privy is situated in the lower-left field of the coin.
Now’s the Time to Diversify
If the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is a preferred piece of your investment portfolio or personal collection, then it’s time to consider adding some of the varied options in this beautiful silver bullion coin series to your list. Check out the variety of Privy Mark Silver Maple Leaf coins for yourself on our website!
