I'm contemplating starting a collection of 1 ounce .999 silver coins from different countries. Preferably ones that mint almost every year. I have an American Eagle and so far my want list includes 1. Canadian Maple Leaf 2. Australian Koala 3. Chinese Panda Help me list some more Thanks.
Foreign Silver Issues I collect silver world wide. Those countries that do annual 1oz silver are: USA - Canada - Mexico - Australia does several different ones - Great Britian - China - Austria - Isle Of Man. There are several countries that do silver issues that very rarely reach our shores. Most all are not continous bullion issues. Most are of a very limited issue with large price tags - priced way beyond true value with little resell value above melt in this country. Those listed above are becoming more pricey as each series continues. Australia and Mexico also do 2oz issues and larger. Some past issues like the China Panda have increased in value way above issue prices. While silver is as low as it now it is a good time to add to a collection. There will be dramatic increase in price if silver goes to $20. and beyond.
My favorite is the Australian Kookaburra. Who can resist a cute carnivorous pudgy bird?! Picture here: http://www.tulving.com/bullion/Australian Kookaburra.jpg Loads of silver annual issues exist. Check out APMEX or Coast to Coast Coin sites for listings - they carry most of the ones already listed. You'll have no trouble finding them.
One ounce silver coins Well, one ounce silver coins are the most popular coins issued, so it's quite hard to name all of them. The number of series seems increasing year after year, too. Maybe you can try to put a limit to the number of series you are interested: - series that are minted only in bullion form? - series with no limit to mintage? - series whose design is fixed in time? - series that have not an in advance fixed time span? - series that have a currency value or series whose value is "1 oz silver"? - ... Here are a recap of what I know (check wikipedia, among other sources): 1. Mexican Silver Libertad (99.90%, from 1982) 2. Chinese Silver Panda (99.90%, 1983) 3. American Silver Eagle (99.90%, 1986) 4. Canadian Silver Maple Leaf (99.99%, 1988) 5. Australian Silver Kookaburra (99.90%, 1990) 6. Australian Silver Kangaroo (99.90%, 1993) 7. British Silver Britannia (95.80%, 1997) 8. Austrian Silver Philharmonik (99.90%, 2008) 9. Russian Saint George the Victorious (99.90%, 2009) 10. Isle of Man Cats (99.90%, 1988) 11. Gibraltar Dogs (99.95%, 1991-1997) 12. Australian Silver Koala (99.90%, 2007) 13. Zambia Silver Elephant (99.90%, 1993-2003) 14. New Zealand Silver Kiwi (99.99%, 2004) 15. Somalia Silver Monkey (99.90%, 1998-2004) 16. New Zealand Silver Fern (99.99%, ?) Lunar coins: 1. China I series (1981-1992, 1oz only from 1988) 2. China II series (1988-1999, piedfort) 3. China III series (1997-2008) 4. China II scallop series (2005-2017) 5. Cina I fan series (2000-2011) 6. Australia I series (1999-2010, Perth Mint) 7. Australia II series (2008-2019, Perth Mint)) 8. Russia I series (2003-2014) 9. Australia I series (?, Royal Australian Mint Canberra) 10. Mongolia (?, ?) 11. Singapore (?, ?) 12. Niue (?, ?) 13. Pitcairn (?, ?) Zodiac coins: 1. Russia II series (2003-2004) Here is a link that shows some other series: http://rscott.org/bullion/coins.htm For instance, you will discover that Bosnia has issued a 1oz silver Horse series (at least between 1994 and 1998).
A couple more silver bullion series: 17. Andorra Aguilas (99,90%, 2008) 18. African Ounce - Rwanda (99,90%, 2008) 19. Cook Islands Ships (99,90%, 2009)
Im wondering what makes it the best ? Ive always understood the Canadian Silver maples to be the purest silver coin on the planet.
Silver Not necessarily so. 99.99 is as pure as one can get no matter what the source. As long as you are buying products of major national mints there should not be a purity problem. Now for 3rd world and private mints, who knows. Some in China are knocking off all kinds of coins, flooding eBay. The best advice is buy from well known and trusted dealers if not from the mint directly where possible. Cecil
Ok , i see Maples advertised as 99.99 pure while the eagle is 99.9 , is there a difference in purity there?
Proof and "non proof" Well, re-reading the starting message of the thread, I have seen that there is no mention of the "proof" / "non proof" issue. Since this thread is under the "Bullion Investing" forum, I have tried to stick to the "non proof" series, even if some are limited in mintage. One ounce silver coins are issued in "proof" series almost everywhere in the world: there are plenty of them!
Silver Maple Leaf one ounce coins are 99,99% pure silver. Silver Eagle one ounce coins are 99,90% pure silver. Obviously, the silver content of each coin is one ounce
99999 purity Speaking of coins, the Royal Mint of Canada issues in bullion format 99,999% pure gold coins (so called 5x9s Maple Leaf) since 2008. Obviously, refining silver to that degree of purity is simply too costly for bullion coins.
Ok , so where are we with this , conflicting opinions and information.Im leaning to what ive always thought,the Canadian Maple is purer than the Eagle.This is correct ?..or not ?