Palladium Bullion Coins

Currently and formerly minted palladium coins

Of all traded precious metals, palladium was underrated until recently. Palladium used to already have a higher value than platinum in the past and in recent times has returned to that position. In fact, both platinum and palladium were undervalued in past years until quite recently. The market usually corrects these imbalances over time and buyers that started investing in palladium while the price was still low can consider themselves lucky these days. The choice of different palladium bullion coins is still quite limited at this time though.

The current standard for palladium coins and bars to be considered bullion is a purity of 99.95%. Canada's Royal Canadian Mint was the first mint to regularly issue palladium bullion coins when it introduced the palladium version of the Maple Leaf coins in 2005. The Canadian Palladium Maple Leafs were at first continually minted until 2007 and are now minted sporadically in certain years. They were last minted in 2015 and 2017 and are only available in the single size of 1 oz. The US Mint started issueing its first-ever palladium coins in September 2017. That's when the first 15,000 Palladium American Eagles (also 1 oz coins only) were released. The American Eagle and Canadian Maple Leaf palladium coins trade close to the spot price of the metal and are listed for purchase online by many precious metal dealers. Since the palladium spot price increased substantially in recent years, more mints can be expected to issue palladium coins regularly in the future.

Other palladium bullion coins were issued in the past by China and the Soviet Union. The 99.9% pure Chinese Palladium Pandas were last minted in 2004 and 2005. These coins were minted in the fractional size of 1/2 oz back then after originally having been minted as 1 oz coins in 1989. The various limited issues of Chinese Palladium Pandas are rarely traded online these days though. Since all Chinese Panda coins are popular with collectors, you can expect to pay a high premium if you do find Chinese Palladium Panda coins listed for sale. Even the Soviet Union minted a series of palladium bullion coins in the past. You probably won't find the Russian Palladium Ballerinas listed for sale online these days either though.

Click on the provided links to buy the coins from respected dealers online, compare current prices or just simply find out more information.

The 99.95% fine Canadian Palladium Maple Leafs were the first palladium coins ever minted by the Royal Canadian Mint and the world's first regularly issued palladium bullion coins. The coins were first minted in November 2005 and production continued uninterrupted until 2007. After that, Palladium Maple Leaf coins were again minted in 2009, 2015 and 2017. Radial lines as well as a special privy mark with the laser-engraved year of mintage were introduced as two new security features in 2015. These features were implemented to prevent counterfeiting. The coins are only available with a brilliant uncirculated finish in the single available size of 1 oz. Their official face value is CAD $ 50 and they have legal tender status in Canada.

The Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf page gives more information about the coins and allows you to compare current prices.

The Palladium American Eagles are the US Mint's latest addition to the American Eagle bullion coin series. The first 15,000 brilliant uncirculated coins were issued on the 25th of September 2017. Proof coins were then released in 2018, followed by reverse proof coins in 2019 and burnished coins in 2020. In 2021, the US Mint released two versions of the Palladium Eagle coins in the same year, a proof version AND a brilliant uncirculated bullion version. All American Palladium Eagles are minted out of 99.95% fine palladium in the single size of 1 oz (US $ 25 face value). A young Lady Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap is depicted on the obverse side of the coins. The reverse shows an eagle perched upon a rock and holding an olive branch in its beak. The high-relief design of both sides was originally created by Adolph A. Weinman, one of the most famous American coin designers.

The American Palladium Eagle page gives more information about the coins.

Chinese Palladium Pandas

In 1989, the 99.9% fine Chinese Palladium Pandas made their debut as a coin (commemorative proof Palladium Panda medals had been issued in 1988). A total of 3,000 proof 1 oz Chinese Palladium Panda coins was minted that year by the China Gold Coin Incorporation. The nominal face value of each of these coins was 50 Yuan.

The next Palladium Pandas came out in 2004. A total of 8,000 proof coins of the 1/2 oz denomination (100 Yuan face value) was minted that year. The same number of proof coins of the same denomination was minted again the following year 2005.

All three different issues of the Chinese Palladium Panda bear the same panda design that was also used on that year's gold version of the coins.

Russian Palladium Ballerinas

The national mint of the Soviet Union in St. Petersburg produced the Russian Palladium Ballerinas from 1989 until 1995. The 99.9% fine Russian Ballerina palladium coins were issued in the sizes of 1 oz (face value of 25 Roubles), 1/2 oz (10 Roubles) and 1/4 oz (5 Roubles). On the obverse side of these rare coins, you'll always find the image of a Russian Ballerina (as a tribute to the world-famous Bolshoi Ballet) surrounded by the Russian words for Russian Ballet. The figure of a female dancer always represents Odette from Swan Lake but her depicted posture changed from year to year. On the reverse side of the coins, the hammer and sickle symbol at first appeared above the letters CCCP and the year of mintage. Since 1992, the reverse depicted a double-headed eagle as the Russian Coat of Arms.

Read our blog article for more information about these coins.