340-Year-Old Chinese Coin Found in Yukon

Archaeologists say the find is further proof of the trade going on between first nations, Russians, and Chinese people hundreds of years ago.

The discovery of a 340-year-old Chinese coin near a gold mine in Yukon has raised speculation that Chinese traders could have made their way to the Pacific coast of Canada long before European explorers ever did. The coin, which comes from the reign of Emperor Kangxi, who ruled from 1662 to 1722 during Qing Dynasty of China, was found near the site of a planned gold mine about 300 kilometres northwest of Whitehorse. It's the third Chinese coin found in that neck of the woods, and adds to dozens found along the Alaskan coast. According to the team that found it, the coin is further proof that Chinese merchants were trading with Russian settlers and the Tlingit traders that populated Alaska and northern B.C. These people then would have likely traded with the Yukon First Nations who lived further inland during the 17th and 18th centuries, and potentially as far back as the 15th century – nearly 200 years before Europeans ever established a permanent settlement on Canada's East Coast.