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Lot 2251
1849 Mormon $20 Gold. NGC graded AU-50. This is one of the rarest Pioneer gold coins and also one of the most important. The 1849 Mormon issues were the first Pioneer gold coins struck from California gold. And the 1849 $20 is the largest denomination of the Mormon gold coins. But this denomination, and the even rarer 1849 $10, were struck in extremely limited quantities.
David Hall, who examined the Smithsonian example (through a plexi-glass display case) said in an opinion piece, "I believe PCGS would grade the coin MS61. It is arguably the finest known. This coin came from the incredible Lilly collection, which was donated in whole to the Smithsonian. Most of the great Pioneer gold coins in the Smithsonian are from the Lilly collection."
The Stocker Estate specimen of the Mormon $20, the presently offered About Uncirculated 50, is the second finest in private hands (see below) and, crucially, available now! A fantastic opportunity to acquire this significant rarity, the first $20 piece circulated in the United States. Choice light yellow gold surfaces show uniform color throughout. Notably free of major marks and showing excellent natural surfaces, a fact that separates it from most lesser survivors, including the Judge Slack-James Stack specimen, the specimen sold by Bowers and Merena in August 1995, the Garrett coin, the bruised Eliasberg coin, the tooled Walton-Gibson piece, the burnished specimen in the September 1984 Bowers and Merena sale, and others seen. What marks are present are extremely minor: a small nick below the 4 of 1849, another equally small mark above C.[P.] along with a shallow indentation (possibly as made) above and to the right of the 9 in the date. Two distinguishing features on the reverse are marks between H & E in THE, a diagonal nick below H[OL], and a rim irregularity above TO at the 7 to 8 o’clock position.
Coined beginning on September 1849 from unrefined California gold dust brought overland, the Mormon $20 coins were the first of that denomination ever struck in the United States, preceding even the unique Federal 1849 $20 by three months and beating the circulation strike 1850 double eagles by an even longer margin. These $20 pieces have the distinction of being the first $20 gold pieces struck in the United States.
Mormon $20 coins were of natural alloyed gold and were easily abraded. In the middle of November that year, according to the definitive Dr. Donald Kagin reference work on Territorial Gold coins, "$600 worth of silver was purchased for hardening the coins. This may account for the weight variance in the same design coin or for the slightly heavier 1850 $5 issues."
Kagin goes on to describe how, "Although the Mormon coins probably were intended for local transactions only, and therefore taken at par by the Salt Lake City merchants, many of them were used to purchase goods from outsiders. As early as May 1850, Mormon coins appeared as far east as St. Louis, Missouri. By the end of the year the coinage began to appear in most sections of the country, especially at major port cities."
Few collectors outside of numismatic academia realize that the history of the California Gold Rush is part and parcel with that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more familiarly known as the Mormon Church. As Don Taxay has pointed out, "Mormon ‘Forty-Niners’ included both James Marshall (who made the actual discovery of gold, Jan. 24, 1848) and Sam Brannan (who galloped through San Francisco streets shouting about it), as well as many of the earliest miners. One of the richest deposits found was on Mormon Island, downstream from Sutter's Mill at Coloma on the American River."
Following up on this, Walter Breen in his encyclopedia explains, "When Mormon miners began bringing gold dust back in quantity to Deseret ('Honeybee') Territory (the Salt Lake City area), Brigham Young conceived the idea of creating a distinctive local coinage. On Nov. 25, 1848, Young and John Taylor conferred with John Mobourn Kay, formerly connected with one of the Birmingham (England) private mints, to determine procedures for smelting and coining California gold ores. Between them they determined the devices and inscriptions. Kay and Alfred B. Lambson forged the die blanks; Robert L. Campbell and Kay engraved them."
"The obverse of the $20 gold piece depicts the Emblem of Mormon Priesthood, the "three-pointed Phrygian Crown," above the All-Seeing Eye. HOLINESS TO THE LORD is the King James Version's rendering of Exodus 28:36, originally intended for engraving on the Hebrews' sacred jewels. The clasped hands device stands for friendship. G.S.L.C.P.G. = "Great Salt Lake City Pure Gold," though the bullion all came from California except for the 1860 mintage, which was from Colorado gold. On the $10, instead of the initials, was PURE GOLD. Both labels were misnomers: Not only was California gold naturally alloyed, the Salt Lake City coiners admixed it still further. The Latter Day Saints' own term for their gold pieces was ‘Valley Coins.’"
Breen further points out, "The very first issue was of $10 denomination. Kay struck [46] $10s in Dec. 1848: 25 on Dec. 12, 21 more on Dec. 19. Apparently the dies were dated 1849 in anticipation of coinage continuing into the next year. Immediately afterward, the crucibles broke, so that no more ore could be smelted, no ingots formed. As the need for a circulating medium was severe, Brigham Young (with others of the Mormon Church's 12 Apostles) signed and circulated handwritten paper currency dated between Dec. 29, 1848, and Jan. 5, 1849. These (along with several later issues of 1849) were recalled and burned after the Church managed to buy new crucibles, Sept. 1849.
"Coinage resumed on Sept. 12, at the Deseret Mint, actually the home of Dr. William Sharp, South Temple Ave., Salt Lake City, now the site of the Hotel Utah garage… Kay and Campbell made dies for $2-1/2, $5, and $20 coins. Any more $10s must have been from the old dies. They struck many thousands of specimens of $2-1/2s and $5s, which found enthusiastic acceptance among the Saints as an improvement over gold dust."
After the 1849 issues were completed, at Brigham Young's orders, new coins dated 1850 began to be minted. These were alloyed with silver and struck from redesigned dies. Mintage of 1850-dated $5s continued through June 19, 1851. However, mass melting made rarities of them all. Pop 1; 2 finer, 1 in 55, 1 in 62 (PCGS # 10274) .
Estimated Value $190,000 - 210,000.
The Stocker Estate.
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| Realized $253,000 |
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