Canada's platinum bullion program launched in 1988 as a direct response to the success of the American Platinum Eagle and the Soviet Union's Palladium Ballerina series, both of which were pulling institutional and collector investment away from Canadian product. The Royal Canadian Mint moved aggressively, positioning its fractional platinum issues against a market that had barely existed a decade earlier.
The 1990 date falls within the first generation of the series, before the Maple Leaf design displaced the polar bear on the fractional denominations.
Canada's platinum bullion program launched in 1988 as a direct response to the success of the American Platinum Eagle and the Soviet Union's Palladium Ballerina series, both of which were pulling institutional and collector investment away from Canadian product. The Royal Canadian Mint moved aggressively, positioning its fractional platinum issues against a market that had barely existed a decade earlier.
The 1990 date falls within the first generation of the series, before the Maple Leaf design displaced the polar bear on the fractional denominations.