1 oz Call of the Wild Gold Coin

Five-Nines Gold: The Purest Bullion Coin Series Ever Produced

The 1 oz Call of the Wild gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint is struck in 99.999% pure gold, five-nines fineness, making it the highest-purity gold bullion coin series commercially available. This extra decimal place beyond the .9999 standard of the 1 oz Maple Leaf, 1 oz Britannia, and 1 oz Kangaroo requires specialised refining techniques that very few facilities in the world can perform. The RCM is one of them.

Released annually from 2014 to 2020, the series comprises seven coins, each depicting a different Canadian predatory animal captured mid-vocalisation: the Howling Wolf, Growling Cougar, Roaring Grizzly, Crowned Elk, Shrieking Golden Eagle, Majestic Moose, and Bobcat. All seven designs are by Canadian artist Pierre Leduc, who was specifically commissioned to portray the animals at their most powerful and vocal moments. Stylised sound wave lines emanate from each animal's mouth, reinforcing the "call" theme.

The series was originally planned as a three-coin programme (2014-2016) but was extended to seven years due to strong sales. It concluded in 2020 with the Bobcat, and there are no announced plans for continuation. This makes the Call of the Wild a finite, complete seven-coin set, and complete sets command significant premiums on the secondary market.

Each coin carries a CAD $200 face value, the highest face value ever assigned to a 1 oz gold bullion coin by any sovereign mint. For comparison, the Maple Leaf is CAD $50, the American Gold Eagle is USD $50, the Britannia is £100, and the Kangaroo is AUD $100. The five-nines purity and high face value together place the Call of the Wild in a distinctive category where bullion value and collector appeal overlap.

Call of the Wild Technical Specifications

The Complete Seven-Coin Series

All coins feature Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse, as the series concluded before the 2022 portrait change to King Charles III. Each Brilliant Uncirculated coin is sealed in a credit-card-sized assay card certifying weight, purity, and authenticity with a tamper-evident seal. The reverse includes a micro-engraved maple leaf with the last two digits of the year laser-engraved within it, visible only under magnification, and the RCM's Bullion DNA authentication system.

A 1/10 oz gold version (CAD $20 face value, .99999 fine) was issued in 2015 and 2016 only, using the Howling Wolf and Growling Cougar designs. Collector proof editions were produced in limited quantities: 2,000 for the 2014 Wolf, dropping to 250 for the 2015-2016 editions. The rarest pieces in the series are the 1/2 kg proof coins (20-25 pieces per year, 2014-2017), each containing 500g of .9999 gold (four nines, not five, for the large format).

Call of the Wild Tax Treatment by Country

The Call of the Wild is Canadian legal tender with a CAD $200 face value, backed by the Canadian government. Its .99999 purity far exceeds all investment gold thresholds worldwide:

• Canada: GST/HST exempt as investment gold. Legal tender status. Eligible for RRSP and TFSA accounts through qualifying custodians. Capital gains on disposal are taxable at the 50% inclusion rate.
• United States: IRA-eligible. The .99999 purity far exceeds the IRS Section 408(m) requirement of .9950. No federal sales tax; most states exempt bullion purchases. Capital gains on bullion are taxed at the collectibles rate of 28% for long-term holdings (not the standard 15-20% rate for equities).
• United Kingdom: VAT-free as investment gold. Not CGT-exempt, as it is not UK legal tender. UK buyers seeking CGT exemption should consider the 1 oz Britannia or Gold Sovereign instead.
• EU: VAT-exempt under the EU investment gold directive (Directive 98/80/EC).
• Australia: GST-free on first supply as investment gold. Standard CGT rules apply with a 50% discount for holdings over 12 months.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt as fine gold bullion. No capital gains tax in NZ, though gains may be taxable as income if the IRD determines bullion was acquired for resale purposes.
• Singapore: GST-exempt as an Investment Precious Metal.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax.

From Three Coins to Seven: A Series Extended by Demand

The Call of the Wild debuted in 2014 with the Howling Wolf, conceived as a three-coin programme showcasing Canadian predators. The Royal Canadian Mint announced only the Wolf, Cougar, and Grizzly, but strong sales prompted an extension to seven coins spanning 2014 to 2020. The series tracks a geographic cross-section of Canadian wildlife: the wolf represents the Arctic and boreal regions, the cougar and grizzly the mountain west, the elk and moose the forests, the golden eagle the prairies and sky, and the bobcat mixed habitats across the country.

Pierre Leduc's seven reverse designs were each commissioned to show the animal in an aggressive, dynamic vocalising pose. These are not serene wildlife portraits. The sound wave lines radiating from each animal's mouth became the series' visual signature, a departure from the more conventional natural history illustration approach used by mints like Perth on their Kangaroo and Kookaburra series.

The achievement of .99999 purity is technically remarkable. The difference between .9999 and .99999 is a mere 0.009%, but achieving it requires specialised refining processes that add measurably to production cost. The Royal Canadian Mint is one of very few facilities worldwide capable of this level of refinement, and the Call of the Wild effectively had the five-nines gold bullion market to itself as a series.

The collector market responded to the finite nature of the programme. The 2020 Bobcat was the final issue, and secondary market prices for individual coins, particularly the 2015 Cougar and 2016 Grizzly proofs (250 pieces each), reflect genuine scarcity. Complete seven-coin BU sets have attracted sustained collector interest. The RCM has not announced a successor five-nines series, leaving the Call of the Wild as a standalone achievement in bullion coin production.

Call of the Wild vs Maple Leaf, Buffalo, and Kangaroo

The most natural comparison is between the Call of the Wild and the 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf, both from the Royal Canadian Mint. The Maple Leaf is .9999 fine (four nines) with a CAD $50 face value, unlimited mintage, and the lowest premiums of any major gold coin. The Call of the Wild's .99999 (five nines) purity, CAD $200 face value, and limited availability place it in collector-bullion territory with noticeably higher premiums. For pure stacking at minimum cost, the Maple Leaf is the rational choice. The Call of the Wild is for buyers who value the purity distinction, the wildlife designs, and the finite nature of the set.

The 1 oz American Gold Buffalo is the US Mint's .9999 entry, featuring a fixed James Earle Fraser design. Both are IRA-eligible. The Buffalo has higher annual production and stronger US domestic demand, translating to tighter spreads in the American market. The Call of the Wild's advantage is the extra nine of purity and the annually changing design.

The 1 oz Australian Kangaroo shares the annual design change approach at .9999 purity. The Kangaroo has far larger mintage and broader distribution through the Perth Mint's dealer network. Both appeal to buyers who appreciate design variety alongside bullion value, but the Kangaroo is more liquid globally.

No other sovereign mint has produced a multi-year five-nines gold series. The RCM also issued a special edition .99999 Maple Leaf, but as a limited one-off rather than a seven-year programme. This makes the Call of the Wild unique in the bullion market. Buyers paying the collector premium are acquiring something with no direct substitute at its purity level.