The Royal Canadian Mint has revived two bullion coin programs that had been previously been suspended for a number of years. This includes the Platinum Maple Leaf, with bullion coins already available, and the Palladium Maple Leaf, which is planned for later this year.
The Platinum Maple Leaf was originally launched by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1988 and offered in 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, and 1/10 oz sizes. The platinum bullion coins were offered until 1999 when the price of platinum started to rise and demand for the coins started to drop. Ten years later, the RCM revived the program due to demand from distributors. So far, the 2009 Platinum Maple Leaf has only been produced in 1 ounce size. The RCM does not sell the coins directly, but they can be purchased through most bullion dealers.
For 2009, the RCM seems to be the only major world mint producing platinum bullion coins. The United States Mint typically produces the popular Platinum Eagle bullion coins. In late 2008, the US Mint announced that the launch of 2009 dated coins would be delayed. To date no coins have been available and no details have emerged about the status of the program.
The Palladium Maple Leaf was the world’s first palladium bullion coin offered. (Note: Some mints have issued commemorative or special issue coins minted in palladium.) The coins were introduced in 2005 and limited to production of only 40,000 coins, which were all sold. The novelty of palladium bullion wore off by 2007 when only 15,000 coins were sold and the program was ended.
Palladium bullion coins currently carry high premiums due to the fact that no major world mints currently produce the coins, and the brief production by the RCM was in very limited numbers. So far the RCM has stated that they intend to begin producing palladium bullion coins for 2009, but no availability date has been provided.
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