Single Source Gold Coins
Canada’s 2024 single-source Gold Maple Leaf coins are being sold exclusively through Costco Canada.
Costco
Single-source mined gold coins? The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) launched this innovative type of bullion coinage in 2022. That’s one shoe that dropped several years ago. The second shoe that has more recently dropped is that Costco Canada is the exclusive dealer from whom the 2024-dated coins can be purchased.
All this comes on the back of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank continuing to ease monetary policy, in turn strengthening the spot price of gold as a safe-haven asset. Not only are gold bullion, coins, and jewelry appreciating, but so are gold-backed cryptocurrencies. The derivative digital assets are becoming increasingly attractive to investors looking for stability. The rising prices make the coins of greater interest to the public as well as to collectors.
Consider it a gimmick or not, Costco Canada has the initial, if not the exclusive, rights to market the single source coins to its clients. Each coin is available encapsulated in a credit card-type packaging that includes a certificate of authenticity signed by the RCM chief engraver.
According to an RCM press release, Costco Canada members will have the first opportunity to buy the 2024 one-troy ounce .9999 fine Maple Leaf Single Mint bullion coins. The coins will be sold initially at select Costco stores across Canada and on the Costco website. The face value of the coins is $50. However, Costco initially retailed them for $3,600. At that time, the spot price of an ounce of gold was about $2,600.
This is the latest numismatic item to be sold through Costco. Silver American Eagles, Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins, and PAMP Suisse gold ingots are also available to members through the giant retailer. Costco does not repurchase numismatic items it sells. Buyers can purchase 20 Silver American Eagles or 25 Canadian Silver Maple Leafs at a time. Purchases of the silver coins are limited to five units per member and are not returnable.
In addition to the Canada Gold Maple Leaf coins, Costco is selling PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan, PAMP American Buffalo, and PAMP American the Free Statue of Liberty ingots. Each is advertised as being “one troy ounce and made of 24-karat gold.” The gold ingots are limited to two per member and, as with the silver products, are not returnable. All gold and silver numismatic items purchased at Costco are shipped via UPS.
Information regarding whether traditional coin dealers are willing to pay a premium for any of the Costco-originating numismatic collectibles was not available in time for this article. All single-source Canadian gold coins have a privy mark on the reverse.
Gold coins typically contain trace particles of other minerals through which the source of the gold can be identified. This is particularly true of coins that date from when refining methods were less scientific than they are today. Since Canada’s single-source mined gold is refined to four 9s (0.9999 fine), it would be challenging to use chemical analysis to identify the source of the gold in its modern bullion coins.
The RCM began offering single-source mined gold bullion coins in 2022, the gold for those coins originating exclusively from Nunavut’s Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine mine. The Meliadine mine is the Kivalliq District of Nunavut Territory, Canada’s most recent territory that was carved out of the Northwest Territory. A privy mark of a hand cradling Earth accompanied by the weight and purity of the metal is set against micro-engraved radial lines on the reverse. The 2022 coins were marketed by Kitco.
The 2023 single-source mine Gold Maple Leaf coins were produced from metal mined in Northern Quebec at the Newmont Éléonore mine. The Newmont Éléonore mine is in the Cree territory of Eeyou Istchee in the James Bay region. The gold from this mine is from the Roberto Deposit.
The 2024 coins use gold sourced from Agnico Eagle’s Detour Lake mine in Northern Ontario. Agnico Eagle is the country’s largest miner of Canadian gold and is the third-largest gold producer in the world. Agnico also owns the Meliadine mine from which the gold for the 2022 coin originated.
The 2024 coin features King Charles III on the obverse for the first time. The earlier two coins each featured Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The annual reverse design features a sugar maple leaf engraved by Walter Ott that is surrounded by precisely machined radial lines as a security device. The micro-engraved security mark on the 2024 coins includes the numeral 24. The purity of the sourced gold is achieved by following what the mint calls “a rigorous segregation protocol.” Coins are further protected by Bullion DNA technology.
According to the RCM, “Every Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin dated 2014 and later, as well as every Silver Maple Leaf bullion coin dated 2015 and later, now features a unique anti-counterfeiting security mark. The Mint’s digital non-destructive activation (DNA) technology, jointly developed by the Royal Canadian Mint and SignopticTM, captures images encrypted with a string of codes and then stores these codes in the Mint’s secure database. By using the proprietary hardware and software that make up the Bullion DNA anti-counterfeiting technology, authorized Bullion DNA dealers can facilitate the authentication of Gold and Silver Maple Leaf bullion coins.”
You may also like:
