1/10 oz Bull and Bear Silver Round

RCM's Financial Market Theme in Fractional Silver

The 1/10 oz Royal Canadian Mint Bull and Bear silver round extends the financial market theme of the Bull and Bear series into the smallest available format. At 3.11 grams of .999 fine silver, this is the fractional complement to the series' flagship 2 oz coin, offering the same RCM production quality and stock market imagery at a minimal entry cost per piece.

The Bull and Bear series launched in 2025 as a collaboration between the Royal Canadian Mint and TD Precious Metals (TD Bank's bullion division), featuring a reverse by Julius Csotonyi depicting a bull thrusting upward and a bear swiping downward against a stylised market chart. The same design vocabulary appears on this 1/10 oz version, though the reduced diameter means less fine detail is visible to the naked eye. The obverse carries the King Charles III effigy by Steven Rosati, only the third Canadian artist to develop a monarch portrait for Canadian coinage.

The Royal Canadian Mint's involvement distinguishes this round from typical private mint fractional products. The RCM is a Crown corporation of the Canadian government with institutional manufacturing capabilities and the Bullion DNA micro-engraved security feature (a laser-etched maple leaf with the year numeral visible only under magnification). This security infrastructure, proven on millions of Maple Leaf coins, provides authentication confidence that private mint rounds cannot match.

For buyers already collecting the 2 oz Bull and Bear coin, the 1/10 oz version offers design continuity at a much lower per-piece cost. For those primarily seeking efficient silver accumulation, the 2 oz flagship provides considerably better value per ounce of silver, with the fractional version better suited to gifts, introductory pieces, or divisible barter holdings.

1/10 oz Bull and Bear Technical Specifications

The .999 purity is standard for RCM silver products at this weight class (the flagship Maple Leaf uses .9999 for its 1 oz coin, but specialty and fractional products commonly use .999). The security features are scaled versions of the same technology deployed across the RCM's bullion range, providing a verifiable authentication pathway that private mint products lack entirely.

Steven Rosati became only the third Canadian artist to develop a monarch portrait for Canadian coinage when he designed the Charles III effigy that appears on this and all current RCM coins. Julius Csotonyi, the reverse designer, is primarily known as a palaeoartist specialising in natural history illustration and museum reconstructions, making a financial-themed coin an unusual departure from his typical subjects of dinosaurs and prehistoric life.

The 2 oz flagship version uses a 38mm diameter with 5.9mm thickness (unusually thick for its diameter due to the double weight in a standard-diameter planchet). The 1/10 oz version is proportionally much smaller, using dimensions consistent with the RCM's fractional product range. Packaging follows RCM standards with individual protective flips for single pieces.

Tax Status of RCM Bull and Bear Rounds

Despite the round format (no fixed face value denomination confirmed for this fractional size), the .999 purity from a government mint positions these pieces favourably in most tax jurisdictions that gate exemptions on purity rather than legal tender status.

• Canada: GST/HST exempt as investment-grade precious metal meeting the 99.9%+ purity threshold. RRSP eligibility is possible through approved custodians given the RCM origin and purity, on the same basis as other RCM silver products. TFSA eligibility also applies through qualifying precious metals dealers.
• United States: Sales tax varies by state (approximately 35 states exempt). The .999 purity from the RCM (a sovereign government mint of a G7 nation) positions these rounds for IRA eligibility on the same basis as the Canadian Maple Leaf, though custodian confirmation is advised for any new product line.
• United Kingdom: Subject to 20% VAT on purchase. Not UK legal tender, so no CGT exemption applies. Rounds from any mint, regardless of quality or government backing, receive the same tax treatment as silver bars in the UK system.
• Australia: GST-free at .999 purity as investment-grade silver meeting Australian tax law definitions.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt at .999 purity. No capital gains tax applies in NZ on bullion disposals, making this one of the most tax-friendly jurisdictions for silver holders.
• Singapore: Potential IPM qualification given .999 purity and sovereign government mint origin. The MAS-approved list determines eligibility; RCM products generally qualify.

The Canadian home market provides the cleanest tax position: GST/HST exempt on purchase and potentially sheltered from capital gains within an RRSP or TFSA wrapper. For US buyers, the RCM's established reputation strengthens the IRA eligibility argument compared to unknown private mints at the same purity level.