Silver Eagle vs Maple Leaf vs Britannia vs Krugerrand: What's the Difference?

Choosing between a Silver Eagle and a Maple Leaf is a lot like choosing between two brands of bottled water. The water is the same. You are paying for the bottle, the label, and whether the store down the road will buy it back from you.

So, which is better, the Silver Eagle, the Maple Leaf, the Britannia or the Krugerrand? Each holds one troy ounce of silver, so the metal is the same. They differ in purity (the Maple Leaf is 99.99%, the others 99.9%), size, security features and price: the Silver Eagle usually carries the highest premium over spot in the US, partly because the US Mint charges its distributors more per coin. The best-known coin in your own country is usually the easiest to sell. This guide describes the differences; it doesn’t pick one for you.

Already know the coins? Skip to why their prices differ.

Silver bullion coins compared

Weights and widths are the mints’ published figures, the same ones the Is My Coin Fake? checker uses. The face values are real but irrelevant: nobody spends a Maple Leaf at its C$5, the same way nobody pays for groceries with a bottle of water.

Is a Maple Leaf more pure than a Silver Eagle?

Yes, slightly. The Maple Leaf is 99.99% silver and the Eagle 99.9%. In a one-ounce coin that difference is 0.0009 of an ounce, which at $60 silver is about five cents. It is the difference between two brands of water where one is 99.9% water and the other 99.99%: real, measurable, and not something anyone tastes.

The Britannia is the odd one out in the other direction. It weighs 31.21 grams, a little more than the others, so at 99.9% it holds about 1.002 ounces of fine silver. Before 2013 it was 95.8% silver, Britannia silver, and bigger: 32.45 grams and 40 mm across. Older Britannias and newer ones are different coins as far as a scale is concerned.

Which silver coin has the best security features?

Counterfeit bullion coins are common enough that the big mints now build checks into the coin itself:

• Silver Maple Leaf: fine radial lines across the background and a tiny laser-engraved maple leaf mark, since 2014. Since 2018 a surface treatment called MINTSHIELD, meant to reduce milk spots.
• Silver Britannia: since 2021, a latent image (the trident turns into a padlock as you tilt the coin), laser-made “waves” that seem to move, micro-text, and tincture lines on the shield.
• Silver Eagle: a reeded edge, and since 2021 a deliberately missing reed whose position changes from year to year.
• Philharmonic, Krugerrand and Libertad: no comparable built-in feature in the sources used here.

None of these replaces weighing and measuring. They make a fake harder to make and a genuine coin easier for a dealer to accept, which is worth something on the day you sell. The guide to testing silver covers the checks you can do at home.

Why does a Silver Eagle cost more than a Maple Leaf?

Mostly the premium, the amount over spot that you pay for the coin. In the US the Silver Eagle usually costs more than other one-ounce coins. One reason is at the source: since July 2024 the US Mint has charged its authorized distributors $3.05 over spot for each Eagle before any dealer adds a margin, and dealers’ margins and demand do the rest.

Whatever you pay, what you get back depends on what a dealer will pay when you sell, so compare both sides. The guide to premiums explains where the money goes, the guide to selling covers buy-back prices, and the premium calculator works out the premium and the round trip for any price you’re quoted.

Abroad, the local mint’s coin is the one dealers see most: the Maple Leaf in Canada, the Britannia in Britain. It is the bottled water again: every corner store stocks the local brand.

Does it matter which coin I buy for taxes?

In the US, no: all silver bullion coins are taxed as collectibles when sold at a gain. In the UK it can: the Britannia is UK legal tender, and gains on UK legal-tender coins are free of capital gains tax, while a Silver Eagle or a Maple Leaf is not exempt. The guide to taxes on selling has the details for the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Value-added tax on buying silver in the UK and EU is a separate matter, covered in the premium guide.

What about milk spots?

White spots that appear on some silver coins, often years later, show up most on Silver Eagles and Maple Leafs. They don’t change the silver content and dealers buy spotted bullion coins by the ounce, but some buyers don’t like them. The Royal Canadian Mint added MINTSHIELD to its Maple Leafs from 2018 to reduce them. The cleaning guide explains why removing them usually does more harm than good.

The fair objection

If all six hold the same ounce, the honest answer to “which is best?” is “whichever is cheapest per ounce when you buy and easiest to sell where you live,” and plenty of stackers skip coins entirely for bars or rounds with lower premiums. That’s a fair point. Coins earn their extra cost in recognition, security features and, in some countries, tax treatment. Whether that is worth it is a choice this guide leaves to you.

Back to the bottled water

The water is the same in every bottle. Compare the price per ounce, look at what the label adds in security, and remember which brand the corner store will take back.

Sources

• Silver Eagle (1986, 99.9%, 31.103 g, 40.6 mm, $1; reeded edge and the year-varying missing reed from 2021): Wikipedia, American Silver Eagle.
• Silver Maple Leaf (1988, 99.99%, 31.11 g, 37.97 mm, C$5; radial lines and laser mark from 2014; MINTSHIELD from 2018): Wikipedia, Silver Maple Leaf.
• Silver Britannia (1997; 95.8%, 32.45 g and 40 mm to 2012; 99.9%, 31.21 g and 38.61 mm from 2013; £2): Wikipedia, Britannia (coin). The 2021 security features: Coin World and the Royal Mint.
• Silver Philharmonic (2008, 99.9%, 31.103 g, 37.0 mm, €1.50): Wikipedia, Vienna Philharmonic (coin).
• Silver Krugerrand (2017, 99.9%): Wikipedia, Krugerrand; weight and width: the Royal Mint’s listing.
• Silver Libertad (1982, 99.9% since 1991, 31.1 g, 40 mm from 1996, no face value): Wikipedia, Libertad (coin).
• The US Mint’s $3.05 per-coin charge to authorized purchasers, and UK capital gains tax on legal-tender coins: this site’s premium guide and tax guide, with their sources.

Sources read October 17, 2026.

Questions people actually ask

Which is better, the Silver Eagle or the Maple Leaf?

Both hold one troy ounce of silver. The Maple Leaf is 99.99% silver and has built-in security features; the Silver Eagle is 99.9% silver and usually costs more over spot in the US. Which suits you depends on price per ounce, where you live and where you expect to sell.

Is a Maple Leaf purer than a Silver Eagle?

Yes. The Maple Leaf is 99.99% silver and the Silver Eagle 99.9%. In a one-ounce coin the difference is 0.0009 of an ounce, about five cents with silver at $60.

Why are Silver Eagles more expensive than other silver coins?

Mostly premium. Since July 2024 the US Mint has charged its authorized purchasers $3.05 over spot per Silver Eagle before dealers add their margin, and demand for the coin is high.

How much does a Silver Britannia weigh?

Britannias from 2013 onward weigh 31.21 grams and are 99.9% silver, about 1.002 ounces of fine silver. Britannias from 1997 to 2012 were 95.8% silver and weighed 32.45 grams.

What security features does the Silver Maple Leaf have?

Since 2014 it has fine radial lines in the background and a small laser-engraved maple leaf mark. Since 2018 it has a surface treatment called MINTSHIELD meant to reduce milk spots.

What security features does the Silver Britannia have?

Since 2021 the Britannia has a latent image in which the trident becomes a padlock as the coin tilts, laser-made waves that appear to move, micro-text and tincture lines on the shield.

Does the Silver Eagle have security features?

It has a reeded edge, and coins from 2021 onward have a deliberately missing reed whose position changes by year.

When was the silver Krugerrand first made?

In 2017, for the 50th anniversary of the gold Krugerrand. It is 99.9% silver, weighs about 31.1 grams and is about 38.7 mm wide.

Are Britannias tax-free?

In the UK, gains on UK legal-tender coins such as the Britannia are free of capital gains tax. In the US, all silver bullion coins are taxed as collectibles when sold at a gain.

Which silver coin is easiest to sell?

Usually the best-known coin where you live, because local dealers handle it most: the Silver Eagle in the US, the Maple Leaf in Canada, the Britannia in the UK.