Canada and the Royal Canadian Mint was the first country to produce an almost pure gold coin when they introduced the very popular gold Maple Leaf coin in 1978. Twenty years later, the Royal Canadian Mint decided they could and would produce an even purer gold coin.
The accepted standard for a solid gold bar is between .995 pure and .999 pure. The Maple Leaf was further refined to a .9999 purity. Beginning in 1998, Canada began minting a special series of $350 face value gold coins that were .99999 pure.
The series features different native Canadian flowers that are of significance in the different Canadian Provinces. For the year 2000, the $350 gold coin featured the Pacific Dogwood, a tree with a flowering bloom that is native to British Columbia as well as the Northwestern United States (Oregon and Washington).
On the obverse of the 2000 proof coin is the image of Queen Elizabeth II. Above the Queen's crown is the word Canada and below the neck of the relief is the $350 face amount. To the left of the Queen's image is the year the coin was minted and to the right is 99999 which indicates the extreme purity.
On the reverse of the 2000 Canadian Gold $350 coin is a cluster of white blooms that represent the Pacific Dogwood, the official flower of British Columbia. Cornus nuttalli, the Pacific Dogwood tree, displays its blooms each year between April and June.
The special proof coin had a mintage of 2000 and was marketed to collectors that were excited by the extreme purity of the gold content. Since its inception in 1998 up until today, a new flower is honored each year in this .99999 pure coin. The coin weighs 38.05 grams and measures 34 millimeters in diameter. It contains 1.02233troy ounces of gold.
As technology has advanced and the refining process has allowed for almost all impurities to be removed from gold, Canada has taken the lead in promoting the purest gold coins in the world. While the spot value for an ounce of gold is no different between a 99.5% pure gold coin and a 99.999% pure gold coin, the latter carries a premium when it is bought or sold.
Technically, the .99999 pure gold coins reduce acceptable levels of impurities to just 1 part in 100,000 a factor of 10 compared to the previous highest gold purity standard of .9999. At some point, it will be impossible to refine gold any further. Is there another 9 in the future of Canadian gold coins?