Lot 717
Possibly Utah’s Earliest-known Numismatic Piece, 1857. This California gold half dollar is perhaps the earliest known numismatic piece from Utah, and as such has great significance. It is engraved as a presentation piece to A.R. Jackman, December 15, 1857. Jackman was born in New York in 1825 and died in Salt Lake City in November 1899. His family converted to Mormonism in the 1830's and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the young Jackman became a member of the Mormon Battalion that came across the plains in the early 1840's after the assassination of their leader Joseph Smith, and was one of the original settlers in Salt Lake City in the 1840's. He fought in the Black Hawk (Sanpete) wars of 1849-51, often referred to as "the secret war of the Mormons" because it was left out of most history books for the next 100 years. Jackman, and others in the Mormon Battalion, waged a war against the Utes after Mormons came into the Salt Lake region, invading what was then Ute Indian land. That war led to almost two decades of regional fighting, which included the Fall, 1857 "Mountains Meadows Massacre" near Cedar City, in which a Mormon battalion dressed as Indians massacred an entire California-bound wagon train. The fact that this gold piece was made just a few months after that massacre may have as yet unknown added significance. The coin is in an NGC NCS slab as genuine and is BG429.
Jackman was in Salt Lake City for the Territorial Census of 1856, and in 1859 was a signatory witness to a bill of sale for slaves in Salt Lake City, an area of history that has also been ignored. [reference- Kate Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 1965, p539.] Jackman, as a devout Mormon, avoided US Census takers (as did many others) his entire life except once in 1880. That year, he and his son were listed as "clerks" in a Salt Lake City store, although they may have had an ownership interest, or were part of a Mormon Co-op. Little else is known of his life. Some have ventured that he was the source of the name "Jack Mormon" and that he had vineyards producing sacramental wine outside Salt Lake City, but these rumors cannot be substantiated.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 6,000.
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| Realized $2,400 |
