20 Dollars - Elizabeth II 2nd Portrait, GML Bullion Coinage

Canada's .9999 fine gold bullion program launched in 1979 as a direct response to the South African Krugerrand's dominance of the global bullion market — and to U.S. import restrictions on that coin, which briefly left American investors without a major accessible alternative. The Maple Leaf series exploited that gap aggressively, and by the mid-1980s the Royal Canadian Mint had captured a substantial share of world bullion sales.

The four-nines fineness was itself a marketing decision as much as a technical one, edging out the Krugerrand's .9167 standard and giving dealers a clean selling point. KM#153 spans the years immediately before the half-ounce denomination was joined by the tenth and twentieth-ounce fractionals, rounding out the full suite.