TD Bank (TD:TO) is one of Canada’s big five commercial banks, and its largest by assets under management. The bank operates over 1,100 branches in Canada under the TD Canada Trust moniker, in addition to over 2,600 ATMs, and serves over 10 million customers across Canada. TD Precious Metals is its subsidiary that handles gold and silver bullion investments for its clients.

But, is it worth dealing with TD for your precious metal investments? In this article, we’ll take a look at whether TD Precious Metals is worth trusting with your next gold, silver, or platinum-group metal sale or purchase. 

TD Bank Precious Metals

The bank’s roots go back to the Bank of Toronto founded in 1855 and the Dominion Bank founded in 1869. In 1955, the two banks merged to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank. As the bank’s business developed through acquisitions and new affiliates it became known as TD Bank Group—or, simply, “TD” for short. 

TD offers the three main precious metals assets to its customers: gold, silver, and platinum. You can buy a variety of physical precious metal products from TD such as coins, bars, and rounds. You can also invest in precious metals through TD with other securities, which is a subject that we’ll touch on later.

Precious metals are only considered as such if they meet strict fineness standards. In the case of gold and platinum, they need to be at least 99.5% pure, while, in the case of silver, it needs to be at least 99.9%. Regulators make an exception for precious metals in retirement accounts, allowing you to avoid sales tax and include them in your RRSP or TFSA. Every product in TD’s precious metals catalog meets the fineness standards required by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). 

Physical Purchase Limits

All of TD’s stock is available online via the bank’s “Gifts and Collectibles” retail store. However, TD limits online purchases to CAD 2,999.99 per 24-hour period for non-TD customers, while CAD 9,999.99 is the daily limit for TD and Verified.Me customers. 

To avoid these limits, you can place your order in a TD branch or at one of TD’s Foreign Exchange Centres.  You can only make in-branch purchases from a TD Canada Trust deposit account in good standing at the time of the transaction.

TD Precious Metals Bullion (2024 Bestsellers)

You can buy gold, silver, and platinum bars and coins from TD Metals. Their largest selection of bars and coins is in gold and silver. Their platinum offering may seem limited to some investors, but they cover the basics. All prices carry a small discount for volume and TD bank account holders.

Let’s have a closer look at what they have to offer in each of the precious metals.

TD Gold Bars

TD offers a wide range of weights in gold bars. The smallest bar you will find is just 1/100th of an ounce, and the largest weighs 1 kg (approximately 35.3 ounces). All orders over CAD 100.00 come with free shipping. Below, we’ve reviewed some of TD’s bestselling gold bars for 2024. 

1/100th Ounce Scottsdale Gold Bar

For the smallest of pockets, or perhaps as a gift to get your kids started in precious metals investing, this bar weighs 1/100th ounce. TD claims that this is the world’s first and smallest, mass-produced, gold bar. The gold bar is of the highest purity of 99.99%. 

Each gold bar bears the world-famous Scottsdale Lion hallmark, considered a regal symbol synonymous with quality and purity. Only one side is engraved with the Scottsdale emblem, weight, and composition. 

Price: CAD 41.70n 

1 oz Britannia Gold Bar

This bar is of a more characteristic weight than the one previously mentioned. This 1 oz bar is one of our favorites from TD for its emblematic design and quality production.

It is made of 1 oz of 99.9% pure gold. The Royal Mint makes these bars which are designed by the renowned designer Jody Clark. The reverse shows the image of Britannia, while the obverse has the weight, purity, and emblem of The Royal Mint.

Price: CAD 2,993.80

 

1 kg Royal Canadian Mint Gold Bar

The Royal Canadian Mint launched this bar as an update to its market-leading 1 kg 99.99% gold bar. The new 1 kg gold bar upholds the Mint’s tradition of high quality and top-tier design. The Mint has added gold Maple Leaf design features which hallmark all their bullion products. On this gold bar, the serial number is now highlighted by serial vertical lines.

Price: CAD 94,045.31

TD Silver Bars

TD sells silver bars in a variety of weights. The smallest weight for silver bars is 1 oz and the highest weight is 100 oz.

10 oz Royal Canadian Mint

These 10 oz bars represent a cost-effective way to invest in silver. They come from a globally renowned refiner, The Royal Canadian Mint. This silver bar has been updated with the characteristic Maple Leaf design, to reflect the heritage shared among all the Mint’s bullion products.

The reverse shows the name of the mint in English and French, and the weight and purity. The distinctive features are the two maple leaves and the serial number. The obverse shows a pattern of a stylized version of a maple leaf.

Price: CAD 409.90

100 oz Royal Canadian Mint Silver Bar

This is TD’s largest silver bar with a weight of 100 ounces. This bar has the characteristic hallmarks of all their bullion products. It has the distinctive features of the Maple Leaf coin design, with the vertical line series surrounding the serial number. 

Price: CAD 3,620.27

TD Platinum Bars

TD only offers platinum bars in one size of 1-ounce, and there are only two different types of bars on offer. This is fairly standard among precious metals retailers, as platinum-group products tend to get overshadowed by their more popular gold and silver counterparts. 

1 oz Platinum Bar Valcambi 

We have chosen to highlight the 1-ounce Valcambi platinum bar as it comes with an assay. This certificate guarantees the quality and authenticity of the platinum bar. The image is enigmatic, showing a jagged square shape with a star formation in its center. The reverse showcases the weight, brand, serial number, and fineness.

Price: CAD 1,376.08

TD Gold, Silver, & Platinum Coins

TD metals offer a wide range of coins and rounds. Only precious metals coins (i.e., not rounds) made by an accredited refiner and purchased directly, or through a government-regulated financial institution, can be included in an RRSP. Since this article focuses on Canadian precious metals products eligible for RRSP inclusion, we’ll take a look at coins only.

Gold Coins

TD offers an expansive variety of gold coins of various sizes. The smallest coin weighs 1/10th oz, the largest weighs the standard 1 ounce. They also scale up gradually with coins of ¼ oz and ½ oz. On their website, they currently list 35 different gold coins.

1 oz Gold Maple Leaf Coin (2023)

This is Canada’s classical and renowned gold coin, straight from The Royal Canadian Mint. It comes in 4 different sizes, 1/10th oz, ¼ oz, ½ oz, and 1 oz. A new series is minted each year, with the first coins minted back in 1979 and the most recent minted in 2023. 

Since the coin was first introduced, it has sold more than 25 million troy ounces. It was also the first bullion coin to achieve 99.99% purity. Below, you can see an example of a 1 oz Maple Leaf gold coin for 2023. 

Price: CAD 2,984.13

 

Silver Coins

TD at present offers 21 different silver coins. Sizes come in weights from 1 oz to 1 kg. There are various weights in between which include 10 oz, 5 oz, and 1oz, and all TD Precious Metals silver coins meet the 99.99% purity standard. 

2 oz Silver Coin – Smilodon Sabre-tooth Cat (2023)

This silver coin is 38mm wide and on the reverse features the image of a saber-tooth cat, a maple leaf, and a backdrop of the Canadian wilderness. In the province of Quebec, the loup-garou werewolf is one of the most famous legends, which the Smilodon saber-tooth tiger (or “sabre-tooth cat”) takes inspiration from. 

Platinum Coins

The platinum coin collection is limited to 4 coins. The list comprises 3 coins of 1 oz and 1 coin of 1/10th oz. TD offers the 1 oz platinum Maple Leaf coins from 2022 and 2024, including the 1 oz platinum Britannia coin from 2024. 

The fourth coin is the 1/10th oz platinum Britannia coin, pictured below. This coin is minted in the same style as its bigger brother of 1 oz. The reverse of the coin features the image of Britannia, which was first used on coins 2000 years ago by the Roman emperor Hadrian.

TD Securitized Precious Metals

Another way to invest in precious metals is through the use of Certificates. Buying securities allows you to access the price growth and benefits of precious metals without owning the physical asset. You won’t have to be concerned with storage, transportation, or insurance. 

One of the easiest ways to invest is through a fund. The most liquid and often the cheapest is through an ETF. These funds are quoted on exchanges and allow quick entry and exit for the asset exposure you desire.

Variety of ETFs

TD has a variety of funds you can invest in, and they also manage an in-house precious metals mutual fund, simply known as the TD Precious Metals Fund. The fund invests in various precious metals companies in North America, with 66.4% of its holdings being concentrated in Canadian mining equities. The fund’s objective is to obtain long-term capital growth by investing in deposit receipts, certificates, and companies engaged in mining, exploration, and production of precious metals.

 

The largest allocation within the fund is Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV.TO), a gold-focused royalty and precious metals streaming company. The company has $6.21 billion in assets under management. The fund is actively managed, meaning it can hold long and short positions, and it currently holds 19.5% of its assets in international equities and 13.1% in American equities. 

In 2023, the TD Precious Metals Fund returned a modest +3.00%, while the YTD returns in 2024 are currently 9.66%.

How to Open an Investing Account

You can open both a Self-Directed TFSA or a Self-Directed RRSP through a TD Bank or TD Canada Trust branch. If you already have an account and online credentials, the website will take you through all the steps using your TD account details. 

If you have a total of $100,000 in cash or investments, you can also invest in ETFs with the help of a financial advisor. You can call them yourself, or follow the initialization process online.

Or, if you are looking to invest without one of the structures mentioned above, you can open a margin account or a cash account. The process is straightforward and completed online. The main differences between the two accounts are listed below:

TD Margin Accounts

• Options investments permitted
• Short-selling permitted
• Options trading permitted
• Buying securities using leverage permitted

TD Cash Accounts

• Options investments NOT permitted
• Short-selling NOT permitted
• Options trading NOT permitted
• Buying securities using leverage NOT permitted

 

Wrapping Up

TD Bank offers a wide choice of physical precious metals of the highest quality. They have a very extensive selection of coins and bars with some very attractive features, making them an excellent choice for Canadian precious metals investors interested in precious metals RRSP or TFSA investing. Their pricing is competitive and takes into account discounts for larger quantities for existing TD customers.

Given that the price of gold hit all-time highs in May 2024 (US$2,450.05 per ounce), retail investors have never been more interested in diversifying their portfolios with precious metals. Now might be an opportune time to load up on the yellow metal—as well as its sister metals, silver and platinum—to capture the upside potential of this exciting, risk-managed asset class.

If you are looking to invest in precious metals through securities, TD Bank also offers a selection of ETFs that track the precious metals industry. With TD, you can trade precious metals on your own through a tax-advantaged retirement account, or with the help of a financial advisor. You can find out all you need to know about setting up a gold or precious metals retirement account in this brief guide to setting up a gold RRSP.