Redeemabi;ity of the $5.00 Maple Leaf

Good Moring Everyone.

I have been doing some background research on the the 1oz, .9999 fine silver, $5.00 Canadian Maple Leaf.

I have ran into a snag. I keep getting conflicting reports as to the redeemibility of these coins at face value. They have a face value, on the coin, of $5.00 each. However I have a report that says a person saved up a bunch of them when silver was below the face value and attempted cash them in at a Canadian bank. It seems that none of the banks in the area would accept them.

My question is this. Are these 1oz Silver Maple Leafs really redeemable? if so what kind of a process do you have to go through to reedeem them at face value..?


catman

 

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Well I'm not sure why anybody would want to spend these. The silver content alone is worth more that the face value. They'd be better off selling them to a dealer for melt value.

David

 

Hi David,

At one point the price of silver dropped below the face value of the coin. The person was trying to take advantage of the short lived cpndition.

What happend should be of interest to all of us. If the banks refuse to accept these silver pieces at face value then are they Real coins. Is the Canadian government just putting out a 1oz silver piece without it having any monatary value in Canada. How can we reedem these coins? What process do we have to go through.?

These are the questions I'm looking for answers to. Thanks for your response. I appreciate it.

catman

 

This is a very interesting question. There are a lot of other coins that beg the same question. The Olympic series with face values of $5 and $10, the transportation series 1 ounce siver coins with face values of $20. I have a $100 gold coin and many of these were minted.Is it possible that bankers just don't recognize what these are and that they are ultimately obliged to accept them at face value?

 

Bromac your location shows you in Canada. Take one of the coins you mentioned to a local bank and see if they're willing to exchange it for you. Don't actually exchange it, of course.
Nick

 

I'll do that and let you know the result.I have also contacted the Mint and I'll let you know their answer.

 

I don't think your test will work. Since that time silver has surpassed the face value of the coin. You won't know if the coin is being redeemed for its montary value or if the teller figures he found a sucker and plans to keep them for him/her self.

catman

 

Perhaps a simple question to a bank manager would provide the answer. Also if Bromac has contacted the RCM I'm sure they'll have some info.

 

you got a good point there.

catman

 

I think the silver maple leafs have good investment potential due to their extremely low mintages regardless of the current price of silver.

David

 

You are probably right on this David. I am your basic collecter and really avoid using coin collecting as a investment medium.

catman

 

Take the coins to the RCM itself, they'll redeem them. Bank of Canada might redeem them as well. Any gov't institution is required to take them.

Banks are not obligated to take them, but can if they wish to do so. (The bank has to pay to send them to the mint to be redeemed. Most will decline for this reason, if they even recognize the coin at all)

Heck, any day of the week I'd take any Canadian $5 or $10 coin at face.

 

I'm sure in the US there are banks that wouldn't take, say SBAs.

 

If this were the case and I was a bank teller, I'd take them and most likely be able to buy them at face.

David

 

Thanks a bunch for the information. I really appreciate it a whole bunch. I'm with you. I wouldn't refuse Canadian dollars either. In fact there are a few common date $1.00's I'm still looking for to fill my collection.

catman

 

Our Coin World QUEEN is a real life bank teller and believe me when I say "SHE WILL TAKE JUST ABOUT ANYTHING, NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!!" I don't know what here bank policies are but she didn't become QUEEN for being stupid. I am almost dead certain she would gladly accept a $20 gold piece and make absolutely sure you get the $20 credit to your account. Right Kyra? Anything for the customer!

 

I don't believe the price of silver has ever dropped below the face value of the Maple Leaf. However it has in the past dropped below the face value of the 1976 Olympic coins. The first time that happened some people did try to redeem them at face value and they were refused. After a lot of angry complaints they did agree to accept them at the Bank of Canada but there were restrictions on how many you could redeem at a time. Shortly after that silver went back up and the point became moot. Since then silver has dropped that low again and the old rules again applied. Whether they would apply to the bullion coin I do not know.

 

Hi Condor,

Glad to see you made it over..! Yes, the price did drop below the $5.00 face value. Coin World carried the story of all the problems the person had reedeming them. As far as I know the problem has never been resolved. Now that silver has increased in price the issue is really mute. However no one has given a method for redeeming the Maple Leaf. If it's not redeemable then its not legal tender nor would I classify it as a coin.

catman

 

Ok, your right, it looks like it did back in 1992 - 93.

I don't classify them as coins anyway. To me in order for it to be a coin it has to be issued with the intention that it circulate as money. The bullion coins were never intended to circulate.