1849 Mormon Ten Dollar

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This is the 1849 Mormon ten-dollar piece (Kagin K-3). In Salt Lake City the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck gold pieces of two and a half, five, ten and twenty dollars from gold brought from California, beginning late in 1848 (Wikipedia; Greysheet). The 1849 pieces show an eye beneath a cap with HOLINESS TO THE LORD on one side and clasped hands with the date, the value and G.S.L.C.P.G., for Great Salt Lake City Pure Gold, on the other (Eckfeldt and Du Bois, 1850). The first pieces tested at the Philadelphia Mint were about 899 thousandths fine, alloyed only with the silver natural to the gold, and well short of their stated weight; a later mixed parcel counted at $562.50 yielded $479.20 at the Mint (Eckfeldt and Du Bois, 1850 and 1852). Wikipedia reports that coining stopped when Governor Alfred Cumming ordered it in 1861. Eckfeldt and Du Bois noted that this value spells out PURE GOLD and recorded the pieces they tested at 219 to 224 grains. Greysheet reports that the ten-dollar pieces were struck on December 12 and 19, 1848, and that only 46 are believed to have been made. Catalogue numbers: K-3. PCGS number 10271.

Rarity Notes

R-7 (Greysheet)

Cross References

K-3