Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Specs, and What One Is Worth

A one-ounce Canadian Gold Maple Leaf holds a troy ounce of 99.99% pure gold, worth today’s spot price at today's spot price, and sells for that plus a premium. It weighs 31.11 grams, measures 30 mm across and carries a $50 Canadian face value. The Royal Canadian Mint has made it since 1979, in five sizes from a twentieth of an ounce up to one ounce.

Gold Maple Leaf specs from the Royal Canadian Mint

Every figure here is from the Royal Canadian Mint's own listing for the 2026 Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins.

Since the coin is almost pure gold, its weight and its gold content are nearly the same number: 31.11 grams on the scale, against 31.103 grams in a troy ounce. A 22-karat coin like the American Gold Eagle weighs more than an ounce because its gold is mixed with other metals. Both hold the same ounce of gold.

The Mint says the Maple Leaf "was also the first bullion coin to achieve the heightened standard of 9999 purity," and that more than 25 million troy ounces of Gold Maple Leaf coins have been sold since 1979. There's no fixed mintage on the bullion coin.

Three ways to tell a Gold Maple Leaf is genuine

The Royal Canadian Mint builds three anti-counterfeiting features into the one-ounce coin and describes them on its product page.

Start with the fine lines radiating across the background. They aren't just decoration. The Mint says they're "precisely machined to within microns" on the master tooling and "create a unique light-diffracting pattern specific to this coin," and that the machining keeps that pattern consistent from coin to coin.

Then look for a small textured maple leaf, laser micro-engraved on the reverse. Inside it sit the last two digits of the year ("26" on 2026 coins), which you'll only see under magnification.

The third is Bullion DNA, the Mint's registration-based authentication system. In the Mint's words, it "facilitates the authentication of Gold Maple Leaf coins dated 2014 and later."

Anyone can weigh and measure a coin against the table above. That's the first check we'd do. How to spot fake gold covers more.

What is a Gold Maple Leaf worth?

Its gold at the spot price, give or take a dealer's margin. That's today’s spot price in the one-ounce coin today, half that in the half-ounce, a tenth in the tenth-ounce and a twentieth in the smallest. The gold price page shows the live figure.

The $50 face value is in Canadian dollars and doesn't set the price; the coin trades on its gold. You pay the gold value plus a premium for minting, distribution and the dealer's costs, and premiums differ by size and by seller. Say one dealer quotes a lower coin price but higher shipping. We'd put both offers through the premium calculator and compare the total per ounce of gold.

Price over spotSee what a dealer is really charging above the gold price.

Is the Gold Maple Leaf IRA eligible?

It meets the fineness test in the federal IRA rule. Internal Revenue Code section 408(m) treats an IRA's purchase of a collectible, coins included, as a distribution, and section 408(m)(3) excludes two groups:

• Specific coins named in the statute, such as the American Gold Eagle (the Maple Leaf isn't one)
• Gold bullion "of a fineness equal to or exceeding the minimum fineness" a regulated futures exchange requires for delivery, held by the IRA trustee; CME Group's COMEX gold contract requires "a minimum of 995 fineness"

At 99.99%, the Maple Leaf is comfortably above 995. The gold IRA coin checker tests any coin, and the gold IRA guide explains how the accounts work.

IRA coin checkerDoes a coin or bar meet the IRS rules for an IRA?

The Maple Leaf and the Gold Buffalo, side by side

Both are 99.99% gold. Per the U.S. Mint, the one-ounce American Gold Buffalo is a little wider at 32.70 mm and weighs 31.103 grams. The Mint's bullion page lists the Buffalo in one size; the Maple Leaf comes in five. All the major bullion coins sit in one table in the gold coins guide.

Where to buy Gold Maple Leaf coins

Coin and bullion dealers across the U.S. carry them. The Royal Canadian Mint also lists them on its own online store, which ships to Canada and the U.S. when coins are available. Before buying, we'd check the total price per ounce, the shipping and what the dealer pays you back. How to buy gold and gold dealers have the details.

What else Maple Leaf buyers ask

How much is a 1 oz Canadian Gold Maple Leaf worth?

It holds one troy ounce of gold, worth today’s spot price at today's spot price. Dealers sell it for that plus a premium.

Is the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf pure gold?

Yes. The Royal Canadian Mint lists it as 99.99% pure gold, which is 24 karat.

How much does a Gold Maple Leaf weigh?

The one-ounce coin weighs 31.11 grams. The smaller ones weigh 15.55 g (1/2 oz), 7.77 g (1/4 oz), 3.11 g (1/10 oz) and 1.55 g (1/20 oz).

What are the lines on a Gold Maple Leaf?

Machined radial lines that create a light-diffracting pattern specific to the coin. The Royal Canadian Mint uses them as an anti-counterfeiting feature.

What is the small maple leaf mark on the coin?

A laser micro-engraved maple leaf on the reverse, with the last two digits of the year inside it. You need magnification to see it.

When was the Gold Maple Leaf first made?

1979, by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Sources and fact-check5 primary sources, checked October 17, 2026

1. Royal Canadian Mint: 2026 Gold Maple Leaf 1 oz 99.99% pure gold coin (bullion)
2. Royal Canadian Mint: 40 years of the Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin
3. United States Mint: Bullion Coin Programs
4. 26 U.S. Code 408(m), Investment in collectibles (Cornell LII)
5. CME Group: Gold Futures Contract Specs

We check every figure against the original source: the mint, the regulator, the exchange or the company itself. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.