Canada released about 1 1/2 months ago a silver dollar but unlike the regular silver dollars and the silver maple leafs this is a $1 denomination and has a wolf on it. I forget the weight but ill get it later and post it. Anyways the coin itself is pretty nice. I think they skimped on the art work of the snow and the moon and they should have added a bit more detail. Not bad for a bullion coin though.
Pretty sure its proof like the silver maple leafs. when i look at it looks double struck to me. Also this is the 1/2 oz .999 silver coin. I dont see this coin as an investment coin since it was 11.95 cdn while the 1 oz silver maple leafs are 14.99. I got it since its teh first time they have done this. probably has same mintage number as teh maple leafs too.
WhispTech,as seen as it is being sold for C$11.95,the silver $1 is definitely a medal-coin.Have you seen the 2006 silver $5 Maple Leaves? I don't like the Queen's portrait though, as it does not depict her true self at all. Aidan.
Aidan, I personally think you need to stop going into peoples threads saying that they are medal coins since you have no clue what you are talking about and its actually starting to **** me off. Canada mints coins two ways. One way is where they just make the disks and not a lot of hand work is done and they mass make them without checking them and such and they are used for our regular currency. The second way is where they go thru a 6-7 steps to make a proof coin out of .999 silver in which the disks are hand worked on. Also the coins are struck by hand unlike the first way which is done by machines in mass where a person double stikes them. Your more then welcome to watch the show on it was either A&E or Discovery Channel. These proof COINS are still legal tender making them a COIN. Third a medal-coin is a piece of silver or whatever that either has only one side struck or could be both but their is no face denomination most of the time. If their is a denomination on it , it can not be used as common currency at a local store or a bank. The only exception to this rule that I have seen that have retained thier face value are the olympic silver coins. Also the premium is for the fact that it is non circulated, and the extr awork done on them. Just because it has a higher price does not make it not a coin. Also your theory is flawed based on that its $11.95 for a $1 coin because there is the two ways as I mentioned of minting the coins, regular and proof. The canadian mint every year releases a proof set of the coins released that year and they are always more then the face value yet they can still be ripped out of their packaging and used as currency at the local store. Again you are paying a premium for the hand done proof double struck coin. Which brings me to my final point. THIS $1 WOLF COIN CAN BE TAKEN TO THE LOCAL VARIETY STORE AND USED AS CURRENCY THUS IT IS A COIN. I doubt anyone would want to do this. And btw I am at a coin store everyday and I am more then able to take pictures of canadian medal coins since there is two little binders of it of things such as province medallions and event medallions.
Oh and a final point. Based on todays market .999 1/2 oz is $5.30 range so of course they are not going to sell it for a dollar, but yet again at a store it can be used and worth that or can get your pure silver content from a buyer. Thats why I said this coin is not really a good investment unlike the maple leafs which are still a couple dollars above their actual value or even better to go for silver bars and pay even a slighter premium.
Edit: My example of the olympic coins depicted as medal is actually wrong since they can be taken to a bank and you can get their face value thus they are a coin too.
The maple leafs with the $5 face value are an excellent way to invest in silver. It is basically the same as buying an ounce of silver with a perpetual $5 [Canadian] put option attached to it. This makes it a superior bullion investment to many other forms. The put option may never come into play, but for the same price it is better to have it than not to have it. For US investors, there is the added attraction of potential diversification out of the US dollar, if that ever becomes necessary. Canadians are smart, and make nice looking coins.
I also bought one, back in December when silver was not so high, so I got it for $9.63 CDN. I also agree most bullion investors will probably stay way because the premuim is so high, so I think the mint is primarly making them for collectors even though they are still bullion and G.S.T (Good and Services Tax) excempt. Which is OK by me because I am still going to buy one every year. I also want to get the Palladuim Maple the mint also introduced, too bad they aren't G.S.T excempt.
An amazing coin to get was that colourized $1 of the candain flag that was at the post office for $99 cdn. they only minted 5000 and they sold like hot cakes and are now selling anywhere from 350 cdn and up. And that was within a week of it being released. Since then I have been watching the coin news and checking the canadian mint site daily for new released serialized coin in low mintage
I agree this is not as good investment as the silver maple leaf, but I'd be getting it as a collector's item, not an investment. I'd be happy to have one even if it never goes up in value; it's just a nice looking coin.
I just heard about the palladium coins earlier today. Somehow I didn't know they existed and I haven't seen one advertised anyplace. Troodon, I think you are correct in your judgement and I also think it will go up in value for you.
I wish I had picked one of these up, since they were the same as the proof silver dollar with only a little bit of enamel paint, I thought they were overpriced at $99, and nobody would ever want these. Shows what I know!
