Homepage / Bullion Coins: Canadian Bullion / 40th Anniversary Canadian Gold Maple Leaf 1 oz. Bullion Coin

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Last Updated on 06/22/2024

40th Anniversary Canadian
1 oz. Gold Maple Leaf
Bullion Coin

1979 - 2019

The 40th Anniversary Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Bullion Coin is a special commemorative bullion coin produced by the Royal Canadian Mint to celebrate the initial release of the 1 oz. Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin.

The Royal Canadian Mint began producing the 1 oz Canadian Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin in 1979.

Before the Canadian Maple Leaf bullion coin, the only 1 oz gold bullion coin produced was the South African Krugerrand, which was not widely available because of the economic boycott of South Africa's apartheid.

The United States did not produce a Gold Bullion Coin until 1986, after Congress passed the Liberty Coin Act; the law authorized the U.S. Mint to begin minting the American Eagle gold bullion coin.

Canadian Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins minted from 1979 - 1981 had a gold purity of 99.90%; in 1982, the Royal Canadian Mint increased the gold fineness to 99.99%, making the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coins one of the purest bullion coins regularly issued.

Gold Maple Leaf Bullion Coin
Obverse Design Changes
1979 - 2019

Over the last 40 years, the Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin has had  noticeable changes to its obverse side.

Note: The effigies of Queen Elizabeth II in this section were on the obverse side of all Canadian circulated and commemorative coins, not only the Maple Leaf bullion coins during the years noted. 

Queen Elizabeth II's 
Three Effigies on the Gold Maple Leaf

Obverse Side 1979-1989 designed by Arnold Machin

The most noticeable change to the Canadian gold bullion coin happened to the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. The obverse image to the left was the first effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin. The Queen's effigy was designed by Arnold Machin and minted on the gold bullion coin from 1979 to 1989. _______

The second effigy of Queen Elizabeth II was designed by Dora de Pédery-Hunt. Her effigy design was the first time Canadian coinage broke from the official use of Great Britain's Royal Mint effigy design. The Royal Canadian Mint used the second effigy design on the obverse side of the Gold Maple Leaf from 1990 to 2003. _______

Obverse Side 1990 - 2003 designed by Dora de Pedery-Hunt

The effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, right, was designed by Susanna Blunt and was first inscribed on the gold bullion coin in 2004. The change in the following two obverse sides does not come from the effigy of the Queen; instead, the change comes from the field of the bullion coins obverse side. The field is the flat area of a coin’s surface that doesn’t have any design or inscription. 2013 was the last year that the field of the 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf Bullion Coin was flat, like most other coins.

Obverse Side (with No Radial Lines) designed by Susanna Blunt

_______

Radial Lines

For security reasons, in 2014, the Royal Canadian Mint RCM) added  radial lines to make it harder for counterfeiters to reproduce the coins; the lines are on the obverse and reverse sides of the Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin.

2014 to 2023 Obverse Side
(with Radial Lines)

2014 to 2023 Reverse Side
(with Radial Lines)

2023 was the last year that the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II was on the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Bullion Coin.

40th Anniversary Canadian
Gold Maple Leaf
Design

Obverse

The obverse side of the 40th Anniversary Canadian Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin displays the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Susanna Blunt.

Inscriptions:

• ELIZABETH II
• 50 DOLLARS
• 1979 - 2019
  
• SB - Susanna Blunt's initials on the Queen's shoulder

The Edge of the gold coin is Reeded.

Coin photo courtesy of SD Bullion

Reverse

The reverse side of the 40th Anniversary Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Bullion Coin features the "Maple Leaf," designed by Walter Ott, with a "40" intertwined around it.

Inscriptions:

• CANADA
• 9999  (purity)
• FINE GOLD
• 1 OZ
• OR PUR ("Pure Gold" in French)
• Micro-engraved Maple Leaf security mark
  

Coin photo courtesy of SD Bullion

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Micro-Engraved Maple Leaf
Security Mark

In 2013, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) started to add a Security Mark to the the reverse side of the 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin.

The Micro-Engraved Maple Leaf security mark was designed and produced by the Royal Canadian Mint laser technology. 

Inside the laser-engraved maple leaf is a "numeral" indicating the coin's "Year of Issue," which is more easily visible under magnification.

Note: The Royal Canadian Mint didn't start to put the security mark on the Silver Maple Leaf bullion coin until 2014.

Bullion DNA
Anti-Counterfeiting Technology

Inside each Micro-Engraved Maple Leaf on every Canadian Maple Leaf bullion coin is a unique imprinted security mark.

No two security marks are the same; the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) has given each bullion coin its own DNA code, which can only be cross-referenced with the RCM for authentication.

40th Anniversary
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf
Coin Information

Introduction:........2019

IRA approved:......Yes

Grade:.................Uncirculated

Face Value:..........$50 CAD

Gold Content:.......1 Troy oz.

Total Weight:.......31.10 grams

Purity:.................99.99% / 999.9 per mille

Diameter:............30mm

Thickness:...........2.80mm

Mint Mark:...........No

Designers:...........Susanna Blunt (obverse) & Walter Ott (reverse)

Edge:..................Reeded

Mintage:.............15,000

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