1 Dollar In the name of Elizabeth II, GML Bullion Coinage

The "GML" designation — Gold Maple Leaf — distinguishes this fractional tenth-ounce piece within the RCM's bullion program, which has operated continuously since 1979 when Canada became the first country to issue a .9999 fine gold coin for the investment market. That purity standard, now commonplace, was genuinely novel at the time and forced Swiss and South African competitors to reconsider their own refining benchmarks.

Elizabeth II's effigy on Canadian coinage ended with her death in September 2022, making 2023 issues a transitional anomaly — struck under a new reign but retaining the previous monarch's portrait during the die changeover period.