Top 5 Purest Gold Coins in the World | 2024 Edition
At a Glance:
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- The purest gold coin in the world is the 99.999% pure special edition Gold Maple Leaf Coin.
- Most popular pure gold coins are minted with a purity of 99.99%.
- High gold purity looks great, but can also reduce the durability of a gold coin.
What Are the Purest Gold Coins in the World?
Purity is an important part of what makes a gold coin worth buying. The purest gold coin in the world is the “five-nines” Canadian Gold Maple. Most Gold Maples are minted with .9999 fine gold, but the Royal Canadian Mint occasionally releases special editions of the coin featuring 99.999% pure gold.
Aside from the special edition of the Gold Maple, the purest gold coins in the world tend to be 99.99% pure. Some of the purest gold coins in 2024 include the Gold Maple Leaf, Gold Buffalo, Gold Britannia, Gold Philharmonic, and the Australian Gold Kangaroo.
Purity isn’t everything, though. Highly pure gold coins come with one major downside: durability. Some investors prefer .9167 pure gold coins like the American Gold Eagle because they’re harder to scratch or damage.
Today, we’re taking a close look at the top 5 purest gold coins in the world.
Top 5 Purest Gold Coins | Updated for 2024
Most of the purest gold coins in the world are made using 99.99% gold. Some investors take the prevalence of .9999 fine gold coins for granted. In reality, 99.99% pure gold coins are a recent invention. The Royal Canadian Mint upped the purity of their Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coin in 1982 from .999 to .9999. This was groundbreaking; the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf was the first gold coin to be minted with 99.99% pure gold bullion.
Since then, so-called “four-nines” gold has become the standard for gold coin producers. The world’s purest gold coins are usually minted with .9999 fine gold.
The top 5 purest gold coins in the world:
- Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (Special Edition) – 99.999% Pure
- American Gold Buffalo – 99.99% Pure
- British Gold Britannia – 99.99% Pure
- Austrian Gold Philharmonic – 99.99% Pure
- Australian Gold Kangaroo – 99.99% Pure
1. Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (Five-Nines Edition)
When it comes to purity, one gold stands above the rest. The Royal Canadian Mint invented the world’s first .9999 gold coin – but this breakthrough didn’t stop their innovation. In 2005, Canada’s national mint released the purest gold coin ever. Minted using 99.999% pure gold, the world’s never seen a coin so fine.
Also called “five-nines” Gold Maples, these coins aren’t always available for purchase. The Royal Canadian Mint releases this collectors edition of the Gold Maple semi-regularly to celebrate anniversaries and other special occasions. The last .99999 pure Gold Maple was released in 2019.
Aside from these special releases, Canadian Gold Maples are usually remarkably pure. The regular edition of the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coin is 99.99% pure, which puts it on par with the other purest gold coins on the market.
2. American Gold Buffalo
Two gold coins dominate U.S. Mint sales: the Gold Eagle and the American Gold Buffalo. The Gold Eagle is an undeniable classic, but the Gold Buffalo features purer gold. American Gold Buffalos are minted using 99.99% pure (.9999) gold bullion, which makes it considerably purer than the Gold Eagle (.9167 fine).
Some stackers struggle to choose between the Gold Buffalo and Gold Eagle. Is the Gold Buffalo a better investment than the Gold Eagle? The answer depends. The Gold Eagle is more recognizable and durable, but Gold Buffalo Coins are purer. Some investors prefer the durability and tight buy-sell spreads of the Gold Eagle, but investors who want the finest gold possible should set their sights on the American Gold Buffalo Coin.
3. British Gold Britannia
Like the American Gold Eagle, the British Royal Mint was an answer to the 1985 embargo of the popular South African Gold Krugerrand. When the best-selling coin became a banned import in several countries, mints raced to produce pure gold coins to fill market demand.
The Gold Britannia is the most recognizable coin to come out of the Royal British Mint. Featuring a purity of 99.99%, the coin is about as pure as it gets. Gold Britannias are purer than American Gold Eagles (.9167) but less pure than the 99.999% special release Canadian Gold Maple Leaf. While the coin’s purity makes it more susceptible to scratching or damage than .9167 pure coins, it offers exceptional recognizability and tight buy-sell spreads for investors.
4. Austrian Gold Philharmonic
The Austrian Mint also produces one of the world’s purest gold coins: the Austrian Gold Philharmonic. This coin’s designs are unique compared to the other examples in this guide. Instead of a monarch or national symbol, the Gold Philharmonic’s artwork pays homage to Vienna’s musical history and culture. Certainly, the coin’s fascinating designs aren’t for everybody. Still, a fineness of 99.99% makes the Austrian Gold Philharmonic one of the world’s purest gold coins.
As investors may have guessed, the Gold Philharmonic was yet another answer to South Africa’s Gold Krugerrand. Like the other coins on our list, the Gold Philharmonic helped popularize highly pure .9999 fine gold in coins.
5. Australian Gold Kangaroo
The Australian Gold Kangaroo is another one of the purest gold coins in the world. Originally known as the Australian Gold Nugget, the Gold Kangaroo is the most recognizable coin produced by Australia’s Perth Mint. Interestingly enough, the Gold Kangaroo’s reverse-side design changes from year to year. On the obverse, each coin features the current monarch of Great Britain.
Many investors are attracted to the Gold Kangaroo because of its exceptional purity. The Australian Gold Kangaroo is minted with .9999 fine gold, which has become the standard for most investment-grade gold coins. A combination of high purity (.9999) and yearly design changes helps to make the Australian Gold Kangaroo a favorite for stackers around the world.
Gold Coin Purity Explained
Gold purity refers to the percentage of a gold product that is actual gold. Gold coins are minted using an alloy, which is a combination of two different metals. By itself, gold is too malleable to retain the shape of a coin or bar. To get around this problem, refiners and mints add liquid gold to another, stronger metal, such as copper or silver. By combining gold with a different metal, mints can make products that are durable enough to be handled and transported.
100% gold coins don’t exist. Therefore, the purest possible gold coin is currently 99.999% pure.
The purity of a gold coin matters to some investors, but it’s a non-issue to others. Many stackers prefer investing in the purest gold coins for aesthetic reasons, and pure gold coins are also eligible for inclusion in a precious metals IRA. Other gold investors don’t care about purity and instead try to stack recognizable and highly durable .9167 pure coins.
Here’s Why Gold Purity Matters
Does the purity of a gold coin matter? Purity matters to investors for a couple of reasons. First, some stackers just love to collect the purest gold coins possible. There’s something exciting about holding a highly pure gold coin in your hands, which helps to explain the popularity of 99.99% fine gold coins.
Gold coin purity is very important for investors who choose to open a gold IRA. Not all gold coins are IRA eligible; the IRS sets strict purity requirements for which gold products can be included in a precious metal IRA. For 2024, gold coins must be minted with a purity of 99.5% or higher in order to be IRA eligible.
Gold purity doesn’t always matter, though. Investors who stack bullion coins pay for the gold they receive, so .9167 gold coins can be more affordable – and durable – than the world’s purest gold coins.
… And Here’s Why it Doesn’t!
The purity of a gold coin isn’t the only thing that gives it value. A coin’s numismatic value and condition could be far more important in determining how much it’s worth, depending on the types of coins investors choose to buy.
In fact, some investors prefer to stack coins that are less than 99.99% pure. There are two main reasons why a stacker might target low purity gold coins. First, coins with a lower purity are more durable than 99.99% fine gold coins. The purest gold coins in the world are popular investments, but they’re also easy to accidentally damage. Gold is highly malleable, so stackers who love to handle their gold coins should try to invest in coins alloyed with harder metals.
Some lower purity gold coins are also more recognizable than the world’s purest gold coins. Take the American Gold Eagle, for example. The Gold Eagle is only 91.67% pure, but it’s far more recognizable to investors than .9999 fine gold coins like the Austrian Philharmonic. Demand for some .9167 coins gives them a tight buy-sell spread, which makes them easier to resell.
Most .9167 gold coins aren’t IRA eligible, although the IRS makes an exception for the U.S. Mint’s American Gold Eagle. Investors who plan on stacking gold for retirement should start with the purest gold coins in the world. But for stackers more concerned with recognizability and durability, low purity gold can be a rewarding investment.
How Pure is 24k Gold?
In precious metal lingo, 24k gold refers to coins or bars minted with 99.99% pure gold. Sometimes, gold purity is stated as a decimal rather than a percentage. 99.99% pure gold, for example, is also called .9999. Aside from some special releases of the Canadian Gold Maple, 24k is about as pure as it gets for gold coins. The purest gold coins in the world are minted with 99.99% pure 24k gold.
Here’s a brief primer on how karats describe gold purity in the gold coin market:
| Karats | Gold Purity |
|---|---|
| 24k Gold | 99.99% Pure |
| 22k Gold | 91.67% Pure |
| 21k Gold | 87.5% Pure |
| 20k Pure | 83.3% Pure |
Does Gold Purity Impact Price?
Gold purity sometimes impacts the value of a gold coin. Two 1 oz gold coins with different purities will usually be sold at different prices. If a 1 oz gold coin is minted with .9999 fine gold, it’ll be worth more than a coin of the same size with a gold content of only 91.67%. Certain gold coins of exceptional purity also sell at even higher premiums.
The purest gold coin in the world, the special release Canadian Gold Maple, is traded at a price considerably higher than its melt value. This is partly due to the novelty of a “five-nines” pure gold coin, but it also has a lot to do with the coin’s limited mintage. Very few mints are capable of producing .99999 fine gold coins, and the ones that are don’t tend to do it often. This makes 99.999% pure coins some of the most expensive gold coins in the world.
How to Test A Coin’s Purity
Most of the purest gold coins on the market will bear markings that demonstrate their purity. We recommend only stacking gold coins with purity stamps, as nearly every government mint includes these stamps on all of their coins.
Testing a gold coin’s purity can be tricky. There are some tools investors can use to assess the purity of a gold bullion coin, including gold testing kits. The best way to reliably tell the gold content of an unmarked coin is to take it to a professional. Coin grading services can authenticate the gold purity, condition, and rarity of a gold coin.
What’s the Maximum Purity For a Gold Coin?
Over the past few centuries, the maximum possible purity for a gold coin has shifted considerably. The purest gold coins in human history were 99.9% fine until 1982, when the Canadian Gold Maple was released with a new purity of 99.99%. In 2005, the Royal Canadian Mint broke its own record again when it unveiled a brand new .99999 Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coin.
As of 2024, the highest possible purity for a gold coin is .99999, or 99.999 percent. It’s unclear whether or not this record will be broken anytime soon. Gold’s malleability is a major problem that innovative mints contend with to produce high purity gold coins. If a gold coin is too pure, it’s far too easy to scratch or damage to be considered a good product. 100% pure gold coins aren’t possible, but even producing a coin that gets close requires an extreme amount of energy and technological innovation.
For now, it seems that five-nines fine gold is as pure as it gets. The record for the world’s purest gold coin is going to be extremely tough to beat!
Finding the World’s Purest Gold Coins
Buying the purest gold coins is the main goal of many stackers. The good news is that you don’t have to look far to find highly pure gold coins. The purest gold coins on the market are usually 99.99% fine – if you exclude the record-breaking special edition of the Canadian Gold Maple. Popular gold coins like the Gold Buffalo, Gold Philharmonic, and Gold Britannia are extremely pure and exceptionally recognizable among seasoned investors.
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About The Author
Michael Roets
Michael Roets is a writer and journalist for Hero Bullion. His work explores precious metals news, guides, and commentary.