1850 Mormon Five Dollar

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This is the 1850 Mormon five-dollar piece (Kagin K-5), with nine stars around the eye and cap. 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. Greysheet reports that new punches and dies were made in March 1850 and that about 4,000 were struck. Catalogue numbers: K-5. PCGS number 10265.

Rarity Notes

R-5 (Greysheet)

Cross References

K-5