1 oz Silver Maple Leaf 2026 (Mintage: 11,000 | Ultra High Relief | Reverse Proof)
- Autumn Colors: Gold, orange, ruby red
- Canada's Mint: Inventor of the 9999
- Tarnish Protection: unique worldwide
- Autumn ColorsFor the first time, a light effect makes the maple leaf glow
- Canada's MintThe Royal Canadian Mint invented the 9999 bullion coin
- Tarnish ProtectionThe only silver coin in the world protected by MINTSHIELD
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Royal Canadian Mint
A leaf that rises from the silver.
You are looking at the side with the maple leaf.
The maple leaf was designed by the engraver Walter Ott for the first Gold Maple Leaf of 1979.
At its launch, the Silver Maple Leaf was, according to the Mint, the world’s first bullion coin made of 99.99 per cent silver.
9999
This is how it appears beside the leaf: 99.99 per cent fine silver.
Ultra High Relief
Relief and colour
On this coin, the leaf rises as high as 1.4 millimetres, higher than on the standard Silver Maple Leaf.
The first Silver Maple Leaf in this relief appeared in 2022. For it, the Mint created a new blank with the same silver content as the standard ounce.
The colour is created with the Royal Canadian Mint’s Vivid Toning Effect: light passes through the colour layer, strikes the polished relief and is reflected back. This makes the leaf glow as if from within. Yellow, orange and red run across the leaf.
Reverse Proof means that the field is matt and the relief shines like a mirror.
A leaf through the decades
1908
A home in Ottawa
The Mint in Ottawa is ready in November 1907. Its head, James Bonar, nevertheless waits until the security fence is in place. Striking therefore only begins on 2 January 1908.
1965
The leaf on the flag
On 15 February, Canada’s new national flag with the maple leaf is raised on Parliament Hill for the first time. Maple leaves have appeared on Canadian cent coins ever since the 1850s.
2024
A new portrait
Since the 2024 issue, the Maple Leaf bullion coins have borne the effigy of King Charles III.
The motif
Leaf and portrait
- The sugar maple
- Its sap is particularly rich in sugar, which is why maple syrup producers value it.
- Two languages
- CANADA appears above the leaf. Along the rim, the weight and purity are given in English and French: FINE SILVER and ARGENT PUR.
- King Charles III
- The portrait was created by Steven Rosati of Montreal. The Mint had invited more than 350 artists for the task.
- Facing left
- Elizabeth II faced right, the King faces left: by long-standing tradition, the direction of the gaze changes with each monarch.
A country has placed the maple leaf on its flag.
You hold it in silver.
Since 1996, the maple has also been Canada’s national arboreal emblem. Ten species of maple are native to the country, and one of their leaves accompanies you with this coin.
11,000
pieces in the edition
999.9/1,000 · Reverse Proof · Case
Issuing country: Canada. Since 1969, the Royal Canadian Mint has been a Crown Corporation wholly owned by the Government of Canada.
Autumn Fire in Fine Silver: The Maple Leaf 2026 in Ultra High Relief
- Design: Walter Ott's classic maple leaf, this time raised sculpturally from the coin's surface and immersed in gold, orange and ruby red thanks to the new Vivid Toning Effect – set against a radiant burst interspersed with countless micro maple leaves.
- Special feature: High relief in its most uncompromising form – a relief height of up to 1.4 mm delivers a look and feel unlike anything you know from an ordinary bullion coin.
- Material & fineness: One troy ounce of silver, 31.1 g fine weight, fineness 999.9/1,000 – Canada's famous "four nines".
- Manufacturer: Royal Canadian Mint – one of the world's technically leading mints and the inventor of the 9999 bullion coin.
- Mintage & growth potential: Only 11,000 pieces worldwide. This strict limitation meets an internationally highly sought-after series – ideal conditions for value appreciation potential.
- Tarnish protection: The Maple Leaf is the only silver coin in the world protected against tarnishing with the Royal Canadian Mint's MINTSHIELD surface protection.
- Investment objective: A rare collector's coin with pronounced rarity character rather than a mass-produced item.
Some issues you recognize from two meters away. This silver Maple Leaf is one of them: when Canadian autumn sets the forests ablaze, a single maple leaf transforms into an entire spectrum of color – and it is exactly this spectacle that the Royal Canadian Mint has captured in 2026 on 31.1 grams of fine silver. The result is not a flat strike, but a small sculpture.
Vivid Toning Effect – a Canadian first
The Canadian mint is using its so-called Vivid Toning Effect here for the very first time. A transparent layer, reminiscent of metallic foil, lets light pass through to the polished relief, where it is reflected back to create a multicolored, almost fluid-looking shine. From the luminous golden yellow at the upper tip of the leaf, the gradient moves through warm orange into a deep ruby red. So there is no printed color here, but a play of light. Anyone tilting the coin in its case will see the leaf literally glow.
Reverse Proof meets ultra high relief
The Reverse Proof minting quality reverses the familiar look: instead of a mirrored field and a matte design, here the maple leaf receives the high-gloss finish, while the background recedes in a silky matte finish. Combined with the ultra high relief technique – the design is struck multiple times under extreme pressure – this creates a spatial depth that a classic Proof finish simply cannot deliver. Leaf veins, texture, the slender stem: everything is tangible. The reeded edge rounds off the appearance with an added touch of quality.
The royal side
The obverse features the official effigy of King Charles III, designed by Canadian artist Steven Rosati, whose initials "SR" appear below the shoulder. Around the edge one reads "CHARLES III", the face value "20 DOLLARS" and the year of issue 2026. Here too, the radiant burst with the small maple leaves forms the background – a consistent design theme carried across both sides. The coin is legal tender in Canada; its collector value is naturally well above its stated face value.
Technical specifications at a glance
- Denomination: 1 oz (fine weight 31.1 g)
- Fineness: 999.9/1,000 fine silver
- Year of issue: 2026 | Country: Canada
- Face value: 20 dollars (CAD)
- Quality: Reverse Proof, Ultra High Relief, colored
- Edge: reeded
- Mintage: 11,000 pieces worldwide
- Delivery: in the original Royal Canadian Mint case with certificate of authenticity
Why this rarity belongs in a collection
The Maple Leaf series has been running since 1988, making it one of the longest-serving bullion series of all. This is exactly what makes the special editions so exciting: they rest on a broad, internationally established collector base. Compared to the plain bullion coin, this issue offers considerably more craftsmanship, color and depth – though, naturally, it is not available in rolls. And compared to the gold coin in ultra high relief released in parallel, it remains far more accessible for collectors, without any compromise on design. Anyone who does not simply stack silver coins, but curates them, will find here a piece with character.
11,000 pieces may sound like a lot – but spread across a worldwide collector market, they are not. Experience shows that it is precisely mintage figures like these that become hard to find years later.
Silver has accompanied humanity for millennia as a coinage metal, a medium of exchange and a symbol of prosperity. It is scarce, industrially in demand – electronics, solar technology, medicine – and retains its physical properties across generations. This dual role as both a collector's item and a real tangible asset is what makes it so appealing: the piece stands as a tangible value on the shelf while also serving as an inflation hedge and as a building block for personal crisis protection. Note for collectors in Germany: the sale of physical precious metals is generally tax-free after a holding period of at least one year; this collector's coin, however, is subject to the standard VAT rate of 19% upon purchase.
The coin is delivered encapsulated in the original black Royal Canadian Mint case, accompanied by its certificate of authenticity – ready for display or as a gift that will not soon be forgotten.
Product depiction may differ from the final product.
