All 2020 SML bullion coins include enhanced security features: radial lines, a micro-engraved maple leaf and BULLION DNA™ anti-counterfeiting technology. They also include all-new MINTSHIELD™ surface protection: the world's first proven approach to reducing the occurrence of white spots discolorations on silver bullion coins.

Aesthetic Protection

White spots, also called milk spots, are imperfections that compromise the aesthetic quality of silver bullion coins. They appear unpredictably, making them challenging to prevent. After years of intensive research and development, the Royal Canadian Mint developed MINTSHIELD™, a unique manufacturing process breakthrough that reduces the appearance of white spots on Silver Maple Leaf bullion coins. Invisible to the eye and having no effect on the coins' purity and composition, MINTSHIELD™ reduces the appearance of white spots for years.

Enhanced Security

BULLION DNA™ anti-counterfeiting technology is an industry first that goes above and beyond other approaches to coin authentication. Every die used to produce SML coins is laser micro-engraved with an anti-counterfeiting security mark. Our registration process—digital non-destructive activation (DNA) technology—captures images encrypted with an algorithm signature and then stores these in our secure database. Combined with the proprietary BULLION DNA Reader and software, the coin's authenticity can be verified in an instant. Silver Maple Leaf coins dated 2015 and later are DNA enabled.

SML bullion coins also feature a textured maple leaf, micro-engraved with laser technology on a small area of the reverse side of the coin. In the centre of this mark, visible under magnification, is the numeral "20" denoting the coin's year of issue.

The radial lines on 2020 Silver Maple Leaf bullion coins are machined precisely to within microns on the master tooling for maximum reproducibility from die to die and coin to coin. The line width and pitch give Silver Maple Leaf coins a characteristic look and create a distinctive, light-diffracting pattern that is specific to this coin.