Silver Piedfort Maple Leaf

The Royal Canadian Mint introduces this unique 2010 silver piedfort maple leaf coin, the first pure silver piedfort coin featuring a beautiful Maple Leaf design. Mintage is limited to 9,000 coins worldwide of which 3,000 are part of a set. Piedfort coins, whose name comes from the French for heavy measure, originated in medieval Europe. Coin makers deliberately made their die templates thick and heavy to ensure they would not be confused with regular coins. This added weight and substance and caught the eyes of kings and nobles and soon piedforts were being displayed in the lavish courts of Europe as enviable symbols of wealth and power, a fascinating history that has been crafted into these exceptionally thick and heavy pure silver coins.

NOTE: Traditionally, a piedfort is a piece struck of a planchet that is thicker than normal; piedforts are typically twice the thickness of a regular coin. In this case, our 2010 Silver Maple Leaf piedfort is the same diameter as a half-ounce SML but contains double the amount of pure silver, making it significantly thicker, which is typical of the piedfort style

A new realistically rendered image of the single maple leaf is on the observe of the coin with the legend 9999 silver purity, while the date of the coin is also indicated. On the reverse of the coin is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England in profile facing right. This portrait is the fourth effigy of the queen to appear on Canadian coinage, and was executed by the artist Susanna Blunt. The legend ELIZABETH II D. G. REGINA (Elizabeth II, Queen by the Grace of God) also appears. Each silver maple leaf is encapsulated inside an elegant, burgundy leatherette clamshell style presentation case lined with black velvet and protected by a black outer box. An individually numbered certificate of authenticity is also included.

Item can be bought at www.mint.ca/piedfortmaple

Weight...............31.39 Grams 1oz
Diameter............34 mm
Edge..................Serrated
Purity.................9999 Silver
Finish.................Reverse Proof
Year...................October 2010
Mintage.............9,000