In response to increasing market demand for greater transparency in the provenance of precious metals, and to showcase its continually evolving refining capabilities, the Mint is introducing its first gold bullion coin completely sourced from a single mine.
The 2022 $50 1 oz. 99.99% Pure Gold Maple Leaf Single-Sourced Mine bullion coin is entirely composed of gold extracted by Agnico Eagle at its Meliadine Mine in Nunavut (Canada) and expertly refined by the Mint, under a rigorous segregation protocol.
This special gold bullion coin will soon be available through the Mint’s network of official bullion distributors.
"Precious metal investors have long trusted the Royal Canadian Mint for the market-leading purity and security of its bullion products. As an LBMA-accredited Good Delivery refiner, they can also count on us for responsibly sourcing the gold and silver we refine," said Marie Lemay, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint.
"By launching a new bullion coin made of gold sourced entirely from Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine mine, we are also showing the market that we can offer bullion with the highest possible integrity, guaranteeing that it originates from a single Canadian mine."
"Agnico Eagle is proud to be a partner of choice as a trusted source of responsibly produced gold for the Royal Canadian Mint’s first-ever single-source mined gold bullion coin," said Ammar Al-Joundi, President and CEO of Agnico Eagle Mines.
"We have built a strong culture of responsible behaviour and have been responsibly developing Canadian mineral resources in Nunavut for more than 13 years. We strive to be a good employer and a good neighbour and we are proud of the value we bring to the local communities and society in general. We do believe that mining, when done right, can contribute to building a better world."
The reverse of the Mint’s first-ever single-source mined pure gold coin features Walter Ott’s detailed engraving of a Sugar Maple leaf, the hallmark of the Mint’s Maple Leaf family of bullion coins.
This central design is also surrounded by an array of precisely machined radial lines. Beneath it appears a micro-engraved maple leaf-shaped security mark containing the engraving of the number "22", only visible under magnification, to denote the coin’s year of issue. Adjacent to the security feature is a privy mark of a hand cradling a globe, symbolizing the single-source provenance of the coin’s 99.99% pure gold. The coin is also protected by Bullion DNATM technology.
This exceptional gold bullion coin is encapsulated in credit card-style packaging that includes a certificate of purity and authenticity signed by the Mint’s Chief Assayer.
Since its founding in 1957, Canada-based Agnico Eagle has grown into Canada’s largest miner of Canadian gold, as well as the world’s third-largest gold producer overall.
Its Meliadine mine, which began commercial production in 2019, is the company’s second gold mine in the Kivalliq District of Nunavut.
With the exception of limited offerings at its Ottawa and Winnipeg boutiques, the Mint does not sell bullion directly to the public. This practice is consistent with the distribution model common to the world’s major issuers of bullion coins. Interested buyers are encouraged to contact a reputable bullion dealer to order new bullion coins.
About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada’s circulation coins. The Mint is recognized as one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca.
About Agnico Eagle
Agnico Eagle is a senior Canadian gold mining company, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico. It has a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects in these countries as well as in the United States and Colombia. Agnico Eagle is a partner of choice within the mining industry, recognized globally for its leading environmental, social and governance practices. The Company was founded in 1957 and has consistently created value for its shareholders, declaring a cash dividend every year since 1983. For more information, visit www.agnicoeagle.com.
I’m not sure I’d want an encapsulated card for this coin, as I would want it graded and slabbed. I don’t want to damage it removing it from the card.
Would not be surprised if NGC or PCGS creates a new slab to encapsulate the card with the coin intact. That would look pretty neat though.
The GSA Morgan Dollars were not cracked open from their original GSA slab, but yet they still get graded as is, it would be the same scenario.
I just have to ask, Bob Silver; how it was possible for any third party grading service to properly grade a coin without removing it from its holder?
That would certainly cause those to stand out from the pack, Bob Silver, and as such be a bit of an added premium itself.
Bob, I do believe these companies will grade and encase anything in plastic if there’s a buck in it for them.
You got that right! I see CAC is now going into the business full-fledged themselves.
Bob Silver,
It’s great that there will now be yet another third party grading service that collectors can add to the mix when trying to come to a consensus as which might be the most accurate and on the level.
I wonder, Bob Silver, if CAC will now in a sense be competing with themselves by still putting CAC stickers on other grading service’s coins.
Major D,
Are you suggesting that if one wanted to watch one of their encapsulating machines in action it would behoove one to maintain a safe distance?
Yes! As a rule, I stay away from woodchippers, and now I’ll add encapsulating machines, too.
… and steamrollers.
Good Sir Rich and Major D,
Those are definitely wise precautions to observe, my friends. Just goes to show it always helps to put your heads together.
Agreed.
…and Zambonis
I’ve often wondered, Antonio, what the purpose was of grading and slabbing bullion. I thought that those processes were meant specifically for numismatic struck coins.
I concur.
Good point, but there are MS70 and PR70 bullion coins, as well as MS68 and PR68 coins. It’s the difference in the value of the coin. A PR70 1995 W ASE is worth significantly more than a PR68 of the same coin.
Hello all, I’m back briefly. Technically I guess all ASEs are bullion- but there is a distinction between what the Mint sells as bullion to the dealers (that you and I cannot buy directly from the Mint), and what the Mint sells to the public as proofs and uncirculated on its web site. I’ll leave it to our resident expert Rich to elaborate- but I’ll state for the “n-th” time that bullion ASE coins have no mint mark, so can only be graded as MS. ASEs with mint marks are considered numismatic coins and are of two types: either proof… Read more »
Rich, if you’re reading this, please chime in. I sincerely consider you as the expert on these posts and especially all matters American Eagle. I would defer to you if I said anything wrong.
To fix a comment I made, I meant to say- “bullion ASE coins have no mint mark, and are not proofs so can only be graded as MS”
Major D, how nice to hear from you again. Your comment is completely correct and there is nothing wrong with what you said regarding U.S. Bullion coins and mint marks. Referring to all the US Mint Bullion Coins Legislated by Congress beginning with Public Law 99-185 [December 15, 1985] Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985 (American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins) and Public Law 99-61 [July 9, 1985] Title II – Liberty Coins (American Eagle Silver Bullion One Ounce Coins), they are all broadly categorized as Bullion Coins (1986 to Date), regardless of the Finish or Mint and Mint Mark. Using… Read more »
Good Sir Rich & Major D,
If there is anything that can possibly be added to what the two of you have today contributed to our knowledge of ASEs, I certainly would have to see it to believe it. Thanks, gentlemen.
Thank you for that! You, sir, are a wealth of information!
Good Sir Rich & Major D,
If in the broader(est) definition of the category all American Silver Eagles are indeed simply bullion coins, would it then make sense to abstain from acquiring any future releases of same since it is rather unlikely that any new developments will be occurring that would in any way enhance their collectability? Perhaps it would be more logical and advantageous, for example, to instead concentrate on accumulating the upcoming releases of the Morgan and Peace Silver Dollar varieties.
And apparently, if it has a CAC sticker attached to the slab, it’s extra verified and at times gains the seller an extra premium in value.
Hi Major D,
I noticed your absence. Welcome back briefly.
Hello and thanks, Jeff. I’m planning to hibernate for the winter and see you all back here in the spring- depending on the Mint’s 2023 schedule. I’m happy this site will be here, and that the talk is going great. Good job on getting it civil again. You deserve a lot of credit for that!
It was definitely a team effort (and you yourself held a key position), but thank you for the kind words. I am really enjoying the current atmosphere here as well. Just like I used to remember it being here when I first started following this site at least a decade ago-informative and (the part that really stood out to me) welcoming.
Take care, Major D.
Jeff Legan & Major D,
I believe I speak for many of us here when I say we are rather enjoying this state of having it all quiet on the western front.
Major D, the only caveat I would add to grading a bullion ASE is if you think it would grade as a 70. ASE’s are stamped out and put into a tube which is a lot of jostling causing marks and dings on the bullion coins. Thus a 70 bullion is quite rare compared to a proof or burnished coins and prices for them reflect that.
Hello ECG, I’m certainly open to being educated in the matter. I sure do see a lot of MS70 graded + slabbed bullion coins for sale by dealers so my perception is that there are a lot of them (and even more MS69’s). Do you have any comparative numbers of how many MS70-graded bullion (no mint mark) coins per year vs MS70 uncirculated/burnished and PR70 proof coins with mint marks?
Excellent question Major D. I do not have that information. But it is worthy of looking into. My only frame of reference is looking at Numismedia coin prices and the price jump from MS 69 to 70 is huge for ASE bullion. Who knows, the average could be less than 1 MS-70 per 500 ct. green box. Looking at the ‘95 W ASE Proof the jump from ‘69-70 is huge too. I am guessing that it has more to do with not many have been broken out of the gold set and thus TPG grades are rare to begin with.… Read more »
Major D, you can find the comparative numbers of MS-69 vs MS-70 versus PR/PF-69 vs PR/PF-70 versus (uncirculated/burnished) SP/MS-69 vs SP/MS-70 for any and all graded ASE/AGE/APE/APdE coins by using the free, up-to-date online PCGS Population Reports and the NGC Census population reports (note, these tallies would not include the numbers for ANACS and ICG graded coins).
Thanks, Rich!
I have seen all too many instances, Major D, of bullion ASEs being sold as if they were Numismatic Burnished Uncirculated, with the sellers going so far as to further their chicanery by placing the bullion coins into US Mint original Burnished boxes to complete this entirely false picture.
I honestly was not aware of bullion coins being called Mint State or Proof, Antonio. I thought they went by Uncirculated and simply had a grade attached to that.
Hey Kaiser, an unrelated question: did your AWQ 3-roll subscription get reduced by the Mint? Got an e-mail from them saying my 3x subscription was now only 1x because of the high demand. I guess on the good-news side it appears I’ll be getting at least one Wong PDS 3-roll. Regarding the ASE issue I’d say that the grading companies and dealers have succeeded in completely making a confusing mess out of it, and have no doubt fleeced a lot of people in the process. For comparison of the various ASE coins, a good web site that I recommend: American… Read more »
Major D, with a hearty “Welcome Back” to you, sir!
I was fortunate enough to not have that particular issue to be concerned with as I fortuitously, and by that I mean purely by coincidence, managed to anticipate the Mint’s latest directive via a prior reduction of my AWQ 3-Roll Subscription to one Set through my own volition courtesy of the intrusion of other more pressing financial (as in the fact that this current spurt of rapid inflation has now become the bottom and deciding line) priorities before the appearance of that edict.
Thanks, Kaiser. I’m going back on hiatus for a few months. I hope the Mint delivers the Wong PDS 3-roll without a hitch. Looking forward to the Mint’s 2023 schedule. Happy collecting!
Will certainly miss you again, Major D; you’re a big part of this site!
By the way, Major D, the website for American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins is awesome. Thank you so very much for recommending it.
I’ll bet this coin is not available for purchase. That’s been my experience with the offerings of the RCM- they have low mintages, and most products (usually the ones I want) get sold out to dealers and priority customers at the onset.
Major D,
I long ago gave up trying to nab anything of real interest from the RCM after it became clear to me that whatever was really worth having was always “pre-sold out”.
I purchased a nice Bluenose Silver commemorative coin from the RCM and am thoroughly happy with it. Very nice strike and beautiful appearance.