An exceedingly rare $20 Mormon gold coin, certified as Genuine by PCGS and struck from California Gold Rush gold in 1849, will be crossing the auction block in early November and is expected to bring more than $100,000 as part of Heritage Auctions' Nov. 1-3 U.S. Coins Signature® Auction at the company's 445 Park Avenue (at 57th) offices in New York.
Few coins can match the rarity and history of the 1849 Mormon $20. Not only were they among the first coins struck from California Gold Rush gold, they were also the first $20 coins to be spent in what is now the United States. This is the first Mormon $20 we've offered in more than 15 years, which shows just how seldom these pieces become available.
Mormon veterans of the Mexican-American War, discharged in California and working their way toward the settlement that became Salt Lake City, were at Sutter's Mill when gold was discovered there on Jan. 24, 1848. They were among the first to strike it rich in the California Gold Rush and some of the first to leave wealthy, carrying gold dust, flakes and nuggets with them. The gold was welcome, but inconvenient for buying goods and tithing, and the church leadership decided to make coins for the community to spend instead.
During the California Gold Rush, many private individuals struck coins for local commerce in cities such as San Francisco. The Mormon coinage follows much the same pattern, though the religious nature of the settlement and the place of manufacture sets it apart.
Though broken equipment soon halted the first attempts at Mormon gold coinage in 1848, by September 1849 the local mint was back in operation. That year, four different denominations were struck. Three of them corresponded to the gold coins struck by the United States, a quarter eagle or $2-1/2, a half eagle ($5), and an eagle ($10). The fourth and largest denomination was something new: a $20 coin.
The U.S. Congress authorized a $20 gold coin or double eagle in 1849, but only experimental pieces were produced that year at the Philadelphia Mint. The first U.S. double eagles for commerce were not struck until 1850, months after the earliest Mormon $20s were made.
While around 1,000 Mormon $20s were produced, only fifteen or so still exist. The coins were popular and much-used within their community, but elsewhere they were viewed with mistrust, much like the Mormons themselves. While private California gold coins often imitated the designs of the U.S. federal government, the Mormon pieces displayed religious symbols, including an Eye of Jehovah. The Mormon coins also shared a common problem with many private California gold coins: they were underweight.The Mormon gold coins never found full acceptance outside the settlement. Over time, most of them were melted down to reuse their gold, especially the $20s. The few surviving examples, like this one, are not only collectible coins but artifacts directly tied to important events in America's commercial and religious history.
Posted 10/19/2013 3:51 pm
