This Listing is for ONE NEW Single Klondike Gold Rush 32¢ Stamp from 1998.

Mint. MNH. No flaws. From a Smoke-free and Pet-free Environment.

The U.S. Postal Service issued these 32¢ gummed stamps on August 21, 1998 in Nome and Skagway, AK – to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first major discovery of gold in Alaska and the peak of the Klondike Gold Rush of northwest Canada. Nome was where gold was first found in Alaska; and Skagway was where many treasure hunters arrived by sea on their way to the Klondike region. The image of gold seekers, known as stampeders, struggling through a snowy mountain pass, is the work of artist John Berkey of Excelsior, MN. The words "STAMPEDERS" and "GOLD" are microprinted on the stamp.

The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of Yukon in northwestern Canada between 1896 and 1898. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896; when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. It has been immortalized in films, literature, and photographs.

Lasting only three years, the Klondike Gold Rush was the largest and most dramatic discovery of gold in American history. Historians estimate that the arrival of these miners spiked the population to nearly 40,000. Although not everyone was fortunate enough to find gold, many of these people were entrepreneurs that opened businesses and helped the economy. Between July and November 1898, the US mints in Seattle and San Francisco received $10 million in Klondike gold; in 1899, $16 million; and in 1900, $22 million. Over the next 50 years, the region produced $500 million worth of gold. By 1900, the frenzied gold rush had ended. The construction of a railroad allowed large mining companies to take over, and most prospectors moved on to gold rushes in other states.

Scott # 3235