Product Description

Crafted in 99.999 pure gold, this 1oz format is the second release from the Royal Canadian Mint's Klondike Gold Rush series.

Product Features

- The SECOND coin in the new Klondike Gold Rush series in 1-ounce 99.999% pure gold

- Rendered in exquisite detail by Royal Canadian Mint engravers

- Crafted in the Royal Canadian Mint’s exacting standard of 99.999% pure gold, the highest standard of pure gold available in the world

- Features a micro-engraved maple leaf laser mark in the coin’s field. In the centre of the mark, visible under magnification, is the numeral “22”, denoting the coin’s year of issue

- Unique credit-card sized packaging ideal for easy handling and storing

- Signed by the RCM’s Chief Assayer, the assay certificate on the back of the card certifies the authenticity and purity of the coin

- Highest face value ($200 CAN) of any legal tender 1 oz. gold bullion coin

Series Description

In the Klondike, the prospector’s pan was the simplest way of prospecting for gold, one pan at a time. Bonanza (formerly Rabbit) and Eldorado Creeks were the richest gold-bearing creeks, where most of the gold lay buried near the bedrock. To reach it, prospectors needed to dig a shaft through permanently frozen gravels (permafrost) down to bedrock, and then tunnel horizontally, a process known as drift mining.

Miners used this method in the winter when the “paydirt” was hauled up to the surface and piled up until the spring. After the spring thaw, trough-like sluice boxes were filled with paydirt, where the muck and gravel were washed away. The much denser gold (gold is 19 times heavier than water) was captured in the riffles in the bottom of the sluice boxes. The rocker box was another popular choice for operations where water was not available in sufficient quantities, for example, on the bench claims on the hills overlooking Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks. Water was poured into the top, and a rocking movement helped separate the gravel from the gold, which was caught by riffles that lined the bottom of the box. The water was typically captured and recycled many times.

These methods helped form the popular image of Yukon as a mining frontier during the Klondike Gold Rush and put Canada on the map as a leading gold producer. As a result of the gold rush, the Yukon joined Confederation in 1898. They also altered the landscape, and changed the environment. The influx of settlers had profound impacts on the Indigenous communities whose territories overlapped with what became the Yukon territory, irreversibly disrupting their traditional way of life. The effects of the gold rush, for better and for worse, are still felt in Canada today.