Canadian Moose Gold

The Gold Canadian Moose from the Royal Canadian Mint

The Canadian Moose is part of the Royal Canadian Mint's celebrated Canadian Wildlife Series (2011-2013), a six-coin programme that was the RCM's first dedicated bullion series outside the flagship Maple Leaf. The gold version features a mature bull moose with a full set of antlers, designed by Senior RCM Engraver William Woodruff, and is struck in .99999 fine gold (five nines) for the 1 oz format, a purity level that virtually no other bullion coin matches.

The Canadian Wildlife Series was conceived as a premium alternative to the Maple Leaf, pairing the RCM's four-nines (and five-nines gold) purity with artistic wildlife designs and fixed mintages. The Moose was the fourth of six animals in the series, released in 2012 alongside the Cougar. The complete set comprises the Timber Wolf (2011), Grizzly Bear (2011), Cougar (2012), Moose (2012), Pronghorn Antelope (2013), and Wood Bison (2013).

Both the 1 oz gold and 1/4 oz gold formats are available. The series is no longer in production, so all available coins come from existing dealer and collector inventory. This discontinued status, combined with the fixed original mintages, gives the gold Moose a collector dimension that ongoing bullion programmes lack.

The moose (Alces alces) is the largest member of the deer family, native to Canada's boreal and mixed forests. A bull moose can weigh up to 700 kg and consume 32 kg of food daily. As a symbol of Canadian wilderness, the moose has appeared on Canadian provincial insignia, stamps, and currency for generations, making it a natural fit for a bullion programme celebrating the country's wildlife.

Gold Canadian Moose Denominations and Specifications

The 1 oz gold version carries a $200 CAD face value and .99999 (five nines) purity, a level that is exceedingly rare in the bullion market. Most premium gold coins, including the Maple Leaf, top out at .9999 (four nines). The additional nine represents a marginal difference in actual gold content (99.999% vs 99.99%), but it signals the extreme refinement capability of the Royal Canadian Mint.

The obverse features the fourth-generation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt, the standard effigy used on Canadian coinage from 2003 to 2023. Since the series predates the transition to King Charles III, all Canadian Moose coins carry the QEII portrait. The reverse shows the bull moose gazing westward in its natural habitat, with grass and trees framing the composition.

Gold Canadian Moose Tax Treatment by Country

As Canadian government legal tender of extremely high purity, the gold Moose qualifies for the most favourable tax treatment available to gold bullion in virtually every jurisdiction.

• Canada: GST/HST-exempt as an RCM-produced legal tender gold coin exceeding the 99.5% purity threshold. RRSP and TFSA-eligible through approved custodians. The $200 CAD face value (1 oz) is guaranteed by the Canadian government.
• United States: No federal sales tax. State exemptions vary. IRA-eligible: the .99999 purity far exceeds the IRS Section 408(m) threshold of 99.5% for gold, and the RCM is a universally recognised sovereign mint. This is among the most straightforward IRA-eligible gold coins available.
• United Kingdom: VAT-exempt as investment gold. Not CGT-exempt (only UK Royal Mint legal tender coins, the Gold Britannia and Gold Sovereign, carry CGT exemption). SIPP-eligible as qualifying gold bullion.
• European Union: VAT-exempt under the Investment Gold Directive (Council Directive 98/80/EC).
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold exceeding the 99.5% purity threshold.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt as fine gold bullion (99.5% purity threshold for gold).
• Singapore: GST-exempt under the IPM scheme for gold of 99.5% purity or higher.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax.
• South Africa: Gold coins zero-rated for VAT purposes.

The Canadian Wildlife Series and Its Place in RCM History

The Canadian Wildlife Series launched in 2011 as the Royal Canadian Mint's first attempt at a premium silver bullion programme beyond the Maple Leaf. Each of the six coins was issued in a single year with a fixed mintage of 1,000,000 pieces per design for the silver version and lower mintages for the gold versions. The programme ran for three years, releasing two designs annually.

William Woodruff, a Senior Engraver at the RCM, designed the first four coins: the Timber Wolf, Grizzly Bear, Cougar, and Moose. The final two, the Pronghorn Antelope and Wood Bison, were created by Emily S. Damstra. Each design depicted its subject in a naturalistic Canadian wilderness setting, a deliberate contrast to the abstract Maple Leaf motif.

The Moose appeared in the middle of the series in 2012 and captures a solitary bull in an alert, westward-gazing pose. It is considered one of the strongest compositions in the series, with Woodruff using the moose's massive antler spread and imposing body to fill the coin's field. The design avoids the action-pose approach (used for the Timber Wolf and Grizzly Bear) in favour of a quieter, more commanding presence.

After the Wildlife Series concluded in 2013, the RCM launched several successor programmes: Birds of Prey (2014-2015), Predator (2016-2019), and eventually the dedicated Bison series (2015-present). The Wildlife Series established the template for all of these: fixed mintages, rotating wildlife designs, and a premium above the base Maple Leaf. The success of the Moose coin, in particular, demonstrated demand for Canadian wildlife beyond the maple leaf symbol.

The gold versions of the Wildlife Series, including the Moose, carry the distinction of being produced in .99999 fine gold (five nines) for the 1 oz format. This purity level has been a hallmark of special RCM gold releases and represents the mint's ability to refine gold to a standard that practically no competitor matches. It remains one of the few bullion-format coins ever struck at this purity.

Gold Canadian Moose vs Maple Leaf and Other RCM Gold

The gold Moose's most natural comparison is the RCM's own Gold Maple Leaf. Both are Canadian legal tender, both carry .9999 purity (the 1 oz Moose actually exceeds this at .99999), and both are produced by the same mint. The Maple Leaf's advantages are overwhelming liquidity, universal dealer recognition, and ongoing production. The Moose offers a distinctive wildlife design, discontinued-series scarcity, and the five-nines purity distinction.

Against international competitors at 1 oz, the gold Moose competes with the 1 oz Gold Britannia, 1 oz Gold Krugerrand, and 1 oz Gold Kangaroo. All of these remain in production with effectively unlimited mintages, giving them deeper liquidity than any discontinued series. The Moose's collector premium (driven by its finite supply and Wildlife Series provenance) means it typically trades above these competitors, measured as a percentage over spot.

At the 1/4 oz size, the gold Moose faces competition from fractional versions of the Maple Leaf, Britannia, and Krugerrand. The Moose carries a higher premium per ounce than these ongoing-production coins, reflecting its discontinued status and series collectibility. For buyers interested in accumulating gold weight at minimum cost, the fractional Maple Leaf is the more economical RCM choice. For those who value the Wildlife Series specifically, the Moose fills a niche that no current-production coin can.

The series is notable for the milk-spotting issue that affected many RCM .9999 silver coins from this era, where white blemishes appear on the surface over time from residual cleaning agents. This cosmetic defect is primarily a concern for silver versions and has less impact on the gold coins, but it remains a known quality issue with RCM products of this period.