The value of Canada Silver Maple Leaf (1 oz) is continually lower than other silver mint coins (e.g., Eagles) and seems to me to priced closer to generic silver rounds than government mint coins. Any explanation?
I guess it depends on which coins you are comparing and where (as in country) you are buying. A quick look at Aust, Canadian and USA sites shows Eagles appear to have a small premium compared to Kooks, Maples, Philharmonics and Kruggerands. Maples are within the price range of the other government issued coins. Sometimes Eagles are cheaper than Kooks. Basically, all buyers can suffer from irrational thoughts. If a silver coin is bullion why should any one coin be valued more than another? The only difference are the pictures stamped on the coin. People buy what they like. People will pay a premium for a coin of a certain year or for country of origin. In the end (for me at least) bullion is bullion. Buying cheap means buying more. No commercial buyer is likely to pay a premium for an Eagle, metal is metal. YMMV.
I buy Maples as well as Eagles and bars. It's a very attractive coin. I'll quit complaining! Also, the Canada monster boxes are much better for storage than Eagle monster boxes where the fins inside mess up use.
Maples are generally on par with other Govt minted bullion coins, but being the second most minted coins (after the US Silver Eagles) on the market, economy of scale allow them to be more available and dealers have more room to adjust their spread. The Eagles are more expensive because the US mint only sells to Authorised wholesalers and applies an additional surcharge to the usual seigniorage, which increases the premiums that dealers have to charge customers.
Thanks. Difficult to compare prices currently since the market is out of whack so much. Not adding now, but if I do in the future I think I'll add Maples over Eagles.
In my premiums spreadsheet it looks like Maples go for about the same as Britannias and Kangaroos, and definitely cost more than rounds. In normal times the premiums for Maples are 12 - 16%, whereas Sunshine Minting rounds go for 6 - 12% over spot. They all go for less than Eagles in the US. The US Mint charges a fixed $2.00 over spot per coin, and only sells to a very small list of Authorized Purchasers, as DK mentioned. But they wouldn't be able to get away with those prices if the demand wasn't there.