The Royal Canadian Mint has introduced a countertop device to help gold and silver dealers determine if bullion coins are genuine.
The Mint unveiled this new piece of technology at the American Numismatic Association's 2015 World's Fair of Money in Chicago earlier this month. It works by reading a miniscule security mark that appears on the reverse of every Gold Maple Leaf bullion dated 2014 and later, as well as every Silver Maple Leaf coin dated 2015 and beyond.
The security mark consists of a textured maple leaf and the last two numerals of the coin's production year. These are visible only under magnification, and are laser-engraved on the dies which are used to strike these coins.
When a dealer inserts a genuine bullion coin into the device, an application takes a high photo resolution of the coin which is then matched to a photo in the Mint's database. Matching the die is similar to matching a fingerprint; the dealer will know instantly if the coin is registered or not.
"The Royal Canadian Mint is committed to assuring its customers that our family of bullion products stands for unrivaled quality, purity and security by being a continuous bullion industry innovator," says Sandra Hanington, president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "The addition of Bullion DNA Anti-Counterfeiting Technology to our growing list of bullion security solutions is a game-changer for Royal Canadian Mint bullion dealers and distributors as they and their customers can now certify that new GML and SML coins are genuine, in-store and at the very moment of a transaction."
