Make this beautiful, FIRST EVER extra thick Piedfort Pure Silver Maple Leaf with reverse proof finish a part of your holdings today! When Canada introduced the first Silver Maple Leaf in 1988, who knew that this would become the most popular and collected series of Canadian coins in history? Now, over twenty years later, the mint is again making history with this stunning, extra thick pure silver gem! First ever piedfort Silver Maple Leaf. Features a reverse proof finish and an extremely low mintage, creating a investment opportunity for the savvy collector! If the sheer, simple beauty of this coin and the low price aren’t enough reason to add one (or more) of these to your collection, here’s a few more. Piedfort Silver Maple Leaf to date! Total worldwide mintage is only 9,000 (of which only 6,000 will be available singly, outside the Gold & Silver Maple Leaf Piedfort 2-Coin Set)! Every Silver Maple Leaf collector needs this coin! Given its unique status and high profile, this will likely become a key to the SML series. Here’s a few interesting facts about the new Piedfort Silver Maple Leaf. A brand-new, naturalistic single maple leaf design. 9999 fine, the purest silver refined and minted anywhere in the world! A maple leaf that is thicker than any other silver maple ever issued! Unique, reverse proof finish. Encapsulation and full numismatic packaging, with individually numbered certificate. Here’s one more tidbit to mull over when considering how many of these simple and elegant beauties to add to your holdings. This is the lowest-mintage special edition Silver Maple Leaf ever issued! What is a Piedfort? Hard to find and popular with collectors for more than a century, piedforts are highly sought after. We get asked all the time, What is a piedfort? ” There are two different, but related, stories of the origin of the word “piedfort. The first says that it literally means “strong foot” in French from. The second says this word was appropriated by the mint centuries ago to mean “heavy measure” or “heavy weight”. In both cases, the sense of serious heft to the coin is obvious. Often the word “piedfort” is translated as “double-thick”, but this is neither a literal translation nor a precisely accurate definition. Numismatically speaking, any coin that is 50% or more thicker than a standard version qualifies as a piedfort, although some piedforts are, indeed, twice as thick as normal. Finally, the age-old question, How is the word pronounced? ” Coming from French, it is not pronounced as it is spelled; that is, don’t say, “pide – fort. Rather, “pee – ay – four” (three syllables) is a good approximation. Here is the exception. Remember, every SML collector needs this coin, so it’s a sure bet that there won’t be enough to go around and that the Mint will sell out much sooner than later. Because of the exceptionally low mintage limit and uniqueness within the SML series, we believe that this coin will become a key to the entire series. Don’t delay on this one, or you will regret it later! The Royal Canadian Mint refines the purest silver in the world. This one ounce silver coin is 99.99% pure! The devices (raised areas of design and lettering) are mirrored, and the fields (low areas or background) are white cameo frosted. A new, realistically-rendered image of the single maple leaf. The legend 9999 guarantees the purity, while the date is also indicated. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, in profile facing right. This portrait, the fourth effigy of the queen to appear on Canadian coinage, was executed by the artist Susanna Blunt. The legend ELIZABETH II D. 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 included. 9,000 (only 6,000 singly). 9999 Fine (Pure) Silver. Royal Canadian Mint engravers.