DAWSON CITY, YUKON—A crew building a recreational trail in northwest Canada discovered a cache of 23 Canadian and American coins dating to the nineteenth century, according to a CBC News report. “These are coins that would have been in common circulation during the [Klondike] Gold Rush,” said archaeologist Christian Thomas of the Yukon government. The coins were buried in what was a busy part of Dawson City where day laborers, miners, and service industry workers lived. The oldest of the coins, which have a total face value of $9.50, is dated 1864. Adjusted for inflation, the amount is equivalent to about $240 today, although prices for basic goods could be extremely high. Thomas explained that a pound of butter sold for about five dollars in Dawson City at the time. “A lot of the tax records show that a lot of these properties were foreclosed on,” Thomas said, “so people would stay, they might go visit family, intending to come back [to Dawson], but just never made it back because they didn’t make their big gold strike.” To read about a recent discovery in the Yukon dating back around 900 years, go to “Time’s Arrow.”
