15 Dollars - Elizabeth II The Gold Rush

Part of the RCM's broader "Exploring Canada" series, this issue commemorates the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–99, which drew roughly 100,000 prospectors north after George Carmack and his companions found placer gold at Rabbit Creek in August 1896. The town of Dawson City swelled from nothing to nearly 30,000 people within two years — then collapsed almost as fast when the Nome strike pulled the crowds to Alaska in 1899.

The $15 face value on a silver coin has no transactional purpose; the denomination exists purely to satisfy legal tender classification requirements under the Currency Act.