The worlds second most popular silver bullion coin, the Royal Canadian Mints ubiquitous Silver Maple Leaf (SML), has a very limited appeal to collectors for two main reasons. Firstly, there are quite literally tens of millions of them, meaning rarity play no part in their numismatic appreciation. Secondly, the design never really changes in a fundamental way.

A way around this has been the production of limited runs of ‘privy-mark’ versions. These carry a small struck image on a clean part of the coin that marks an event. In the past these have included coin sets (F15 etc.), cultural happenings (lunar calendar) and landmarks for example. Because these are struck in comparitively small numbers, even 100,000 is small compared to 25 million plus standard Maples, they become collectable.

This one marks the American Numismatic Association’s coin show, the Worlds Fair of Money, that is being held next month in Anaheim, California. This big event is second only to the Berlin World Money Fair in importance, more so if you’re a collector of US coins as the US Mint doesn’t attend Berlin. As the event is in California, the RCM has chosen the state flower to be the privy mark on 6,000 reverse-proof SML coins. California’s flora of choice is the poppy, specifically the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica). The tiny flower, along with the inscription ‘ANA ANAHEIM ‘ sits to the bottom left of the coins reverse face.

As we said, just 6,000 to be minted and they’re limited to just three per household (US & Canada only). They come presented in one of the standard RCM maroon-coloured snapper coin boxes and will ship from 09 August. Price is a hefty $79.95 CAD, although the mint is stating these are struck to a higher standard than the standard coin. Previous versions have all sold out. Available to pre-order now.

Since its introduction in 1988, the Silver Maple Leaf has become one of the most well known bullion investment coins in the world. Investors and collectors alike have prized it for its quality, purity and value, along with the intricacy of its design. With this reverse-proof silver numismatic coin, we celebrate its success while also paying tribute to the American Numismatic Association (ANA), host of the 2016 World’s Fair of Money.

DESIGN: Unchanged from each bullion coin issued annually, the iconic maple leaf—that mighty national symbol of Canada, its people and its pride—is featured on the reverse of this fine silver numismatic coin. Intricately engraved in fine detail, the single leaf’s serrated edges and deeply veined lobes are rendered in a way that adds texture to the leaf, which shimmers in a brilliant finish set against the frosted background.

The official flower of the state of California, the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), is micro engraved on a small area of the reverse. Remarkably detailed on such a small scale, this unique privy mark stands as a celebration of our attendance at the 2016 ANA World’s Fair of Money in Anaheim, Cal., as further indicated by the engraved acronym “ANA” and the word “ANAHEIM”. The word “CANADA” and the face value are also engraved on the reverse, while the obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.