Here is a video of the 2011 Silver Maple Leaf Forever coin to go along with my blog post. Nothing like seeing silver in video form!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
2011 1/2 Oz Maple Leaf Forever
Just got this one today. This was the first day it was released by the Royal Canadian Mint and I went and bought one as soon as possible.
As you can see, the coin is a slightly different take on the Silver Maple Leaf coins that we know and love. Instead of a single leaf we can see three maple leaves on a branch. Another difference from the usual is that this coin is half the size (1/2 Oz.) and twice the value ($10). Pretty nice coin I must say. Here is how the designer describes the coins:
I expect this coin to go fast. The mintage was limited to 100,000 coins and considering how inexpensive it is (being only a 1/2 ounce coin). Just look at the past smaller coins they have released, like the 1/2 Oz. Wolf coin, and they always sell at a huge premium. Earlier this year the mint released a $20 1/4 Oz. silver coin and it flew off the shelves, so that is why I didn't wait at all to get this coin. In general, any limited mintage Silver Maple Leaf coin is going to sell fast.
Here is what the included certificate says:
Here is a video of the coin:
As you can see, the coin is a slightly different take on the Silver Maple Leaf coins that we know and love. Instead of a single leaf we can see three maple leaves on a branch. Another difference from the usual is that this coin is half the size (1/2 Oz.) and twice the value ($10). Pretty nice coin I must say. Here is how the designer describes the coins:Three leaves of northeastern Canada's important Sugar Maple on the reverse. Prized as the world's best source of sap for maple syrup, this iconic Canadian tree is also widely revered for the stunning spectrum of its foliage coloration in autumn, which varies from bright yellows, reds, and oranges to the deepest purple.
I expect this coin to go fast. The mintage was limited to 100,000 coins and considering how inexpensive it is (being only a 1/2 ounce coin). Just look at the past smaller coins they have released, like the 1/2 Oz. Wolf coin, and they always sell at a huge premium. Earlier this year the mint released a $20 1/4 Oz. silver coin and it flew off the shelves, so that is why I didn't wait at all to get this coin. In general, any limited mintage Silver Maple Leaf coin is going to sell fast.
Here is what the included certificate says:
2011 $10 Fine Silver Coin
Maple Leaf Forever
From backpackers in Berlin to peacekeepers in Pakistan, Canadians are immediately identifiable by a singular image they faithfully sport on pins, badges and appliques: the red maple leaf.
This lyrical cipher has symbolized Canada and Canadians for nearly three hundred years. Historians generally recognize the adoption of the maple leaf by Quebec's Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Montreal in 1836 as the first official use of the symbol to represent an element of Canadian culture.
The symbol was soon popularized in print, song and in the small markers - such as lapel pins - with which Canadian residents of various origins honoured their homelands. The English had their roses, the Scots their thistle, the Irish their shamrocks, and the French their fleur-de-lis - and native-born Canadians quickly chose the prosaic maple leaf.
The idea of including the maple leaf on Canada's national flag took root with Lester B. Pearson in World War I, when he noted that every Canadian battalion had included some form of the maple leaf in its insignia. Fifty years later, in 1965, under his leadership as prime minister, Canada's famous red-and-white maple leaf flag was born.
In addition to the maple leaf's presence on various provincial flags and coats of arms, the country's coinage has featured maple leaves, wreaths, and boughs in various forms for most of Canada's history. In fact, the maple leaf was present on all Canadian coins from 1876 to 1901. Since that time, it has always appeared on Canadian pennies.
Maple Leaf Forever
From backpackers in Berlin to peacekeepers in Pakistan, Canadians are immediately identifiable by a singular image they faithfully sport on pins, badges and appliques: the red maple leaf.
This lyrical cipher has symbolized Canada and Canadians for nearly three hundred years. Historians generally recognize the adoption of the maple leaf by Quebec's Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Montreal in 1836 as the first official use of the symbol to represent an element of Canadian culture.
The symbol was soon popularized in print, song and in the small markers - such as lapel pins - with which Canadian residents of various origins honoured their homelands. The English had their roses, the Scots their thistle, the Irish their shamrocks, and the French their fleur-de-lis - and native-born Canadians quickly chose the prosaic maple leaf.
The idea of including the maple leaf on Canada's national flag took root with Lester B. Pearson in World War I, when he noted that every Canadian battalion had included some form of the maple leaf in its insignia. Fifty years later, in 1965, under his leadership as prime minister, Canada's famous red-and-white maple leaf flag was born.
In addition to the maple leaf's presence on various provincial flags and coats of arms, the country's coinage has featured maple leaves, wreaths, and boughs in various forms for most of Canada's history. In fact, the maple leaf was present on all Canadian coins from 1876 to 1901. Since that time, it has always appeared on Canadian pennies.
Here is a video of the coin:
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The Fun of Blogging!
I have been running this blog for almost two years now and in that time I have received dozens of messages thanking me for maintaining this site (I also maintain some Wikipedia articles related to the topics on this blog). I just wanted to say I am very glad everyone enjoys my blog and hope that you continue to enjoy precious metals as much as I do! I have a blast writing it since it is a topic I am very passionate about.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Video Blog - My first gold coin
My first numismatic gold coin (I have many bullion gold coins, though)! Have a look! A 2010 1/25 oz gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Other Pure Silver Coin Collection
This page will be used to list the other pure silver coins in my collection. This will include foreign silver, other Canadian silver coins and also silver rounds.
Silver Coins (5 coins)
Silver Rounds (1 coin)
Silver Coins (5 coins)
- 2011 1/2 ounce Maple Leaf Forever
- 2011 1 ounce Wayne and Walter Gretzky
- 2013 1/2 ounce Inukshuk
- 2013 1/2 ounce Beaver
- 2013 1/2 ounce Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- 2013 1/2 ounce Polar Bear
- 2012 1/2 ounce Canadian Summer Fun
- 2013 1/2 ounce Niagara Falls
- 2013 1/2 ounce Year of the Snake
Silver Rounds (1 coin)
List of 1/25 Oz Gold Coins
I am not just a silver collector! I have been investing in gold bullion bars/coins for a long time and recently began collecting numismatic gold coins. Most of the ones I have are small - like these Royal Canadian Mint 1/25 ounce gold coins. All coins are 99.99% pure gold and have a 50 cent face value.
I will post links to my new coins as I share them on the internet (blog posts or YouTube videos). Like always, let me know if anything is missing!
Regular Canada 1/25 oz Gold Coins (10 of 22)
I will post links to my new coins as I share them on the internet (blog posts or YouTube videos). Like always, let me know if anything is missing!
Regular Canada 1/25 oz Gold Coins (10 of 22)
- 2004 Moose
- 2005 Voyageur
- 2006 Cowboy
- 2007 Wolf
- 2008 deHavilland Beaver
- 2009 Red Maple
- 2010 Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- 2011 Canada Geese
- 2012 Bluenose
- 2012 Farewell to the Penny
- 2012 150th Anniversary of the Cariboo Gold Rush
- 2013 Owl Shaman Holding Goose
- 2013 300th Anniversary of Louisbourg
- 2013 Bald Eagle
- 2013 Starfish
- 2014 150th Anniversary of Quebec and Charlottetown Conferences
- 2014 Canada's Classic Beaver
- 2014 Osprey
- 2014 Seahorse
- 2015 Maple Leaf
- 2015 Owl
- 2015 Lobster
- 2011 Boreal Forest
- 2011 Orca Whale
- 2011 Peregrine Falcon
- 2011 Wood Bison
Saturday, January 29, 2011
1974 Sierra Leone Silver 1 Leone - 10th Anniversary of the Bank of Sierra Leone (1964-1974)
You may have noticed the video blog post on this coin from a few days ago and now I am finally getting around to providing some more details on the coin.
I had a chance to visit the country of Sierra Leone back in 2005. Unfortunately the country had recently finished a brutal civil war a few years earlier but I still enjoyed my time there. The movie Blood Diamonds was set in Sierra Leone and, well a fictitious film, illustrated alot of the violence that occurred because of fighting over valuable diamond mines. The country still has many scars in the form of displaced citizens, extreme poverty, corruption and disease but I hope it can recover soon.
I was very happy to see this coin available and bought it immediately. The coin was released in 1974, with a mintage of 40,000 coins, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Bank of Sierra Leone. One side of the coin has the bank logo (a lion guarding a treasure chest) and the other side has a picture of the 1st President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Siaka Stevens. From what I have read Siaka Stevens was a fairly ruthless individual and a borderline dictator, but I like the coin anyways.
One interesting think I read is that when Sierra Leone got independence from England the Leone was valued on par with the British Pound. As of today, one Pound could buy you 6600 Leones! Now that is what I call currency devaluation!
Mintage: 40,000
Mint: Bank of Sierra Leone
Purity: 92.5% Silver
Weight: 28.28 grams (approx. one avoirdupois ounce)
Diameter: 38.61 millimeters
Notes: Came with case and certificate of authenticity
I had a chance to visit the country of Sierra Leone back in 2005. Unfortunately the country had recently finished a brutal civil war a few years earlier but I still enjoyed my time there. The movie Blood Diamonds was set in Sierra Leone and, well a fictitious film, illustrated alot of the violence that occurred because of fighting over valuable diamond mines. The country still has many scars in the form of displaced citizens, extreme poverty, corruption and disease but I hope it can recover soon.
I was very happy to see this coin available and bought it immediately. The coin was released in 1974, with a mintage of 40,000 coins, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Bank of Sierra Leone. One side of the coin has the bank logo (a lion guarding a treasure chest) and the other side has a picture of the 1st President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Siaka Stevens. From what I have read Siaka Stevens was a fairly ruthless individual and a borderline dictator, but I like the coin anyways.
One interesting think I read is that when Sierra Leone got independence from England the Leone was valued on par with the British Pound. As of today, one Pound could buy you 6600 Leones! Now that is what I call currency devaluation!
Mintage: 40,000
Mint: Bank of Sierra Leone
Purity: 92.5% Silver
Weight: 28.28 grams (approx. one avoirdupois ounce)
Diameter: 38.61 millimeters
Notes: Came with case and certificate of authenticity
Friday, January 28, 2011
Silver Round I Got In The Mail - Mark Messier Commemorative
Here is a video of me opening up a package I got. It was a commemorative coin of NHL hockey great Mark Messier - a 1 oz 0.999 silver coin produced by the Highland Mint. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Video Blog - Silver 1974 Sierra Leone One Leone Coin
Here is a video on another of my sterling silver coins. This is a 1974 Sierra Leone Silver One Leone coin. I haven't had a change to add a blog page about it yet, but here is a video of it where I give some good views of it and some interesting facts.
Make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel!
Make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Video Blog - Yugoslavia Olympic Coin
I had a chance to do another video blog today. Here is my Yugoslavia Olympic coin along with some commentary about it and why I bought it.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
2002 Horse Privy Mark Silver Maple Leaf
After quite some time of wanting to I finally made my first purchase of a Chinese Zodiac privy mark Silver Maple Leaf. For those of you that don't know, from 1998 until 2009 the Royal Canadian Mint released a series of 12 coins with privy marks to commemorate the signs of the Chinese Zodiac. Each coin was released on a year that coincided with that sign (for example, 2002 was the Year of the Horse).
There was really no real reason why I chose to get the Horse privy first, other than that it was the first coin I had an opportunity to purchase. That probably has to do with the fact that there was a fairly high mintage for this coin, a mintage of 25,000. I think the photo gives a pretty good view of the privy mark but I will make sure to take a video of the coin when a get a few more of the Chinese Zodiac coins (which I plan to in the very near future, since I am going to try and focus my efforts on getting this series of coins).
There was really no real reason why I chose to get the Horse privy first, other than that it was the first coin I had an opportunity to purchase. That probably has to do with the fact that there was a fairly high mintage for this coin, a mintage of 25,000. I think the photo gives a pretty good view of the privy mark but I will make sure to take a video of the coin when a get a few more of the Chinese Zodiac coins (which I plan to in the very near future, since I am going to try and focus my efforts on getting this series of coins).
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
My 5 Most Wanted - January 18 2011
It has been over a year since I have updated my "5 Most Wanted" coin list so an update is long overdue. This time I chose to make two lists. The first is a list of the "reasonably priced" (less than $50) coins I want and the other is "expensive". In all likelihood I will only be getting the reasonable priced coins in the near future but it is always fun to dream about the expensive ones!
I will make sure to update the lists whenever I get any of the coins on either list.
Top 5 Reasonably Priced:
Top 5 Expensive:
I will make sure to update the lists whenever I get any of the coins on either list.
Top 5 Reasonably Priced:
- 2011 Wolf - I really like the look of this coin (and of course the 1/2 oz version from a few years ago) and I want to get the Wildlife series coins as they come out (this is the first coin in the series)
- 2011 Silver Maple Leaf - Just because this one should be fairly easy to get since it is this year's coin
- 2010 Silver Maple Leaf - I was really slacking last year and never got this coin, but I think it should still be fairly easy to come across.
- 2009 Ox Privy - The series of coins I am currently working on are the Chinese Zodiac so I would like to get the last coin in this series
- 2007 Pig Privy - Another needed coin in the Chinese Zodiac series and with a low mintage of 8000 I would like to get this coin as soon as I can
Top 5 Expensive:
- 1998 10 Ounce Silver Maple Leaf - This would be a great one to get because of it's size! I would love to hold this huge coin in my hands.
- 2010 Gold Plated Olympic Set - This set has the three Olympic Silver Maple coins, which are some of my favorites in my collection, with selective gold plating. I love the look of them.
- 2010 Gold Plated Olympic Hockey Coin - Instead of selective plating, like the above set, this is a single coin with full gold plating to commemorate Canada winning both hockey gold medals at the 2010 Olympics.
- 2005 Canada Lynx Set - I love the idea of the 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/10 oz coins coming with the 1 oz on. From what I have seen they look like a great set.
- 1998 RCMP Privy - One of the first privy mark coins I have always liked the look of this coin's mark.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Another Coin Added to List
When updating the other day I forgot to add the "Gold Plated 2010 Olympic Hockey" coin. The list should now be fully up to date.
Note: I also changed some of the categories of the sub-series' slightly to take into account new coins that have been produced.
Note: I also changed some of the categories of the sub-series' slightly to take into account new coins that have been produced.
Friday, January 14, 2011
New Maple Leaf Coins Added To List
I have been slacking a bit updating the official list of Silver Maple Leaf coins, but today I made a few more additions. They are:
- 2010 Coin
- 2011 Coin
- 2011 Wolf
- 2010 Piedfort Silver Maple Leaf
- 2010 Gold plated Olympic Set
Video Blog - Olympic Silver Coins
Today I started adding a video component to the blog. Check out my first video blog of the Olympic Silver Maple Leaf coins and feel free to give me some feedback and subscribe to my YouTube channel! Hope you like it.
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