The Royal Canadian Mint’s Maple Leaf gold bullion coin is now available in a 1-gram format.

The RCM announced the new, smaller Maple Leaf gold 50-cent coin on Sept. 24, as an effort to target first-time precious metal buyers while offering seasoned investors something new. 

The new coins feature the standard Walter Ott reverse design of a single leaf, paired with an obverse employing the Susanna Blunt effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. 

Marc Brûlé, interim president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint, said in a press statement, “The Mint’s new Maplegram25 product gives investors a novel way to purchase gold Maple Leaf bullion coins in a highly liquid format that preserves and celebrates all the trademark qualities of the Maple Leaf brand.”

The 1-gram coin is struck in .9999 fine gold with a bullion finish. A individually serial-numbered blister card containing 25 coins (called the Maplegram25) is easily divisible by tearing along the dotted lines (like many modern pills), according to the RCM. The card fits in a branded protective sleeve on which is printed an assay certificate certifying the purity and weight of the coins.

The 1-gram coins will be produced to demand and are now available through bullion dealers worldwide.

The RCM does not sell bullion coins directly to the public but uses a network of authorized purchasers and distributors who create a two-way market for the coins. 

Dealers are selling the coins in the 25-coin packs at prices of about 10 percent premium over the “spot” or precious metal price. This premium is less than the typical 37 to 40 percent premium on the 20th-ounce gold Maple Leaf coins, which have about 56 percent more gold than these 1-gram pieces. 

For more information about the RCM’s bullion program, visit its website.