The Platinum Maple Leaf is a platinum coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint between 1988 and 2002, and reintroduced in 2009 (1 oz only). The coin was offered in 1/20 oz, 1/15 oz (in 1994 only), 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, and 1 oz denominations, all of which are marked as containing .9995 pure platinum. The coins have legal tender status in Canada, but as is often the case with bullion coins, the face values of these coins (C$1, C$2, C$5, C$10, C$20 and C$50) are purely symbolic and do not reflect their true value.
| Years | Denominations | Purity | Obverse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988–1989 | 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz | 9995 | 39-year-old Queen |
| 1990–1992 | 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz | 9995 | 64-year-old Queen |
| 1993 | 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/20 oz | 9995 | |
| 1994 | 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/15 oz, 1/20 oz | 9995 | |
| 1995–1999 | 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/20 oz | 9995 | |
| 2002 | 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/20 oz | 9995 | |
| 2009 | 1 oz | 9995 | 79-year-old Queen |
Note: In 2002, 500 sets of hologram platinum maple leaf coins in all five denominations were the only platinum maple leafs minted that year.
Famous quotes containing the words canadian, platinum, maple and/or leaf:
“We’re definite in Nova Scotia—’bout things like ships ... and fish, the best in the world.”
—John Rhodes Sturdy, Canadian screenwriter. Richard Rossen. Joyce Cartwright (Ella Raines)
“Flouncing your skirts, you blueness of joy, you flirt of
politeness,
You leap, you intelligence, essence of wheelness with silvery nose,
And your platinum clocks of excitement stir like the hairs of a
fern.”
—Karl Shapiro (b. 1913)
“Once they came on a maple in a glade,
Standing alone with smooth arms lifted up,
And every leaf of foliage she’d worn
Laid scarlet and pale pink about her feet.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaf and blood at the root
Black bodies swingin’ in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin’ in the poplar trees.”
—Billie Holiday [Eleanor Fagan] (1915–1959)