Why is a 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar Worth Less Than a Canadian Gold Maple Coin?

Why is a 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar Worth Less Than a Canadian Gold Maple Coin?

“How is it that the price of a 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar – PAMP Suisse with Certificate is consistently worth less than a 1 oz Canadian Gold Maple coin? Both are 1 ounce and 9999 pure.

Wrapped in plastic thereby avoiding damage, and with the Swiss reputation historically as the world’s bankers I would have thought the pamp would be the one to command a premium.”

So writes in Gary. Yet another interesting question that necessitates of bit of thinking on our behalf!

Before we get into the likely reason, we better look at exactly what these 2 products are…

What is a 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar?

Specifications:

METAL: Gold 999.9
WEIGHT: 1 oz
THICKNESS: 1.66 mm
DIMENSIONS: 41mm (h) x 21mm (w)
DESIGN: Fortuna

The 1oz PAMP Lady Fortuna Gold Minted Bar is a beautiful design from Swiss refiner PAMP. It comes with a certificate of authenticity and unique serial number in protective packaging. It is 1 Troy ounce or 31.1 grams in weight with a fineness (purity) of 99.99%.

The 1oz Lady Fortuna Gold Minted bar features the stunning Lady Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fortune and luck, on the obverse side. She is portrayed with all of her mythical attributes: Sheaves of wheat, poppies, Horn of Plenty, precious coins, and Wheel of Fortune.

While the reverse has the weight, purity and serial number.

PAMP Brochure: PAMP Minted Bars

For more on selecting the right type of gold bar to buy see: What Type of Gold Bar Should I Buy?

Video: PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna: The Most Coveted Bullion Bar In The World

What is a 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Coin?

Specifications:

METAL: Gold 999.9
WEIGHT: 1 oz
THICKNESS: 2.8mm
DIMENSIONS: 30mm diameter
DESIGN: Maple Leaf

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf 1oz Coin is the official bullion gold coin of Canada, and is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. The 1 oz Canadian Maple Leaf bullion gold coin is one of the world’s most stylish and popular gold bullion coins, and is highly demanded throughout the gold investing world, in Asia (including here in New Zealand), as well as Europe and the US.

The brainchild of Walter Ott, it is one of the purest gold regular-issue coins in the world with a gold content of .9999 millesimal fineness (24 carats). That is, unlike some other bullion coins it contains virtually no base metals at all—only gold, from mines in Canada.

The obverse of the coin depicts a right-facing profile of Queen Elizabeth II, along with the year and face value.

While the reverse features a large, single maple leaf with the weight and purity. New micro-engraved maple leaf privy mark shows a “17” when viewed under magnification.

Other authentication features include radial line background which is precisely machined by the Royal Canadian Mint onto their master die to create a unique light diffracting pattern.

The 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is a Sovereign coin backed by the Canadian government. It is a legal tender coin with a face value of $50.

Video: Gold Maple Leaf 1 ounce coin – Royal Canadian Mint

Related: Silver Maple Monster Box – The Complete Guide

So Why is a 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar Worth Less Than a Canadian Gold Maple Coin?

The differential in the pricing of these 2 products chiefly comes from the manufacturing mints who set the wholesale price.

The Royal Canadian Mint sets the price higher for the 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Coin than PAMP does for the 1oz Lady Fortuna Minted Bar.

Why Might the Price be Set Higher on the 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Coin?

Most of the Government Mint Coins are priced higher than private mints (such as PAMP).

And yet both 1oz gold bullion products are minted so take a similar amount of “work” to manufacture. Compared to say cast bars which are poured.

So Why Does the Royal Canadian Mint Set the Gold Maple Coin Price Higher?

We guess because they can! “The market” is prepared to pay more for the 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Coin compared to the 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar.

Perhaps because this is due to the fact that the Maple Coin is a legal tender sovereign coin? Meaning the coin has a face value in this case of $50CAD.

(See this article for more information on what a legal tender coin is: What to Make of Legal Tender (Face Value) Gold and Silver Coins?)

Most legal tender sovereign coins are priced higher than bars from private mints. Even very well accepted mints such as PAMP.

Here’s another piece of evidence supporting the theory that it may be the sovereign coin legal tender nature of the 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Coin that allows the price to be set higher.

Compare the Price of the 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar to a Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) Gold Minted Bar

There isn’t as much demand here in New Zealand for these RCM Bars and we don’t sell many of them, so we don’t list them on the website currently. However they would sell for a very similar price to the 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar. As their wholesale prices are the same.

So even though they are from a government mint – the Royal Canadian Mint – these 1oz RCM bars are priced very similarly to the 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar.

Which Should You Buy? The 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar or the 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Coin?

Both the 1oz PAMP Gold Lady Fortuna Minted Bar and the 1oz Canadian Gold Maple Coin are very sought after gold bullion products. They will be readily bought back worldwide.

So in the end it really comes down to personal preference as to which you might prefer. You can see the latest price for both products on our order page: Buy Gold Bars or Coins

You might also like to read this related article: What Use Will Silver Coins be in New Zealand in a Currency Collapse? >>

Editors Note: This article was originally posted 12 September 2017. Updated 29 January 2019 to include new links to product information.