Although the maple leaf has served as a symbol of Canada since long before confederation, it has only been 25 years since the iconic symbol was adopted as an official national emblem.  This 2021 $5 quarter ounce fine silver coin marks the 25th anniversary of the maple leaf as our arboreal emblem. Mintage is limited to 100,000. HST/GST exempt.

The Design:

The design features three sugar maple leaves beneath the text “CANADA”. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.  

Did You Know?

The sugar maple’s sap is famously sweet — it’s the maple species favoured by Canadian maple syrup producers. Canada provides 71% of the world’s total supply of maple syrup, but it takes about 40 litres of sap to make just 1 litre of syrup.

Can you name all 10 Canadian maple species? 

They are: mountain maple, Douglas maple, vine maple, sugar maple, black maple, Manitoba maple, red maple, silver maple, striped maple and bigleaf maple. You’ll find at least one of these 10 Canadian maple species growing wild in each province. If you’re trying to identify a Canadian maple based on leaf shape, all but one species have simple leaves with between three and nine pointed lobes. The Manitoba maple is the only one with compound leaves (leaves divided into separate leaflets) that more closely resemble ash leaves.