1849 $5 Mormon Five Dollar AU58 PCGS....

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Sold on Apr 30, 2009 for:

$40,250.00 Bid Source: Mail/Fax bidder

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Impressive Near-Mint 1849 Mormon Five Dollar, K-2

1849 $5 Mormon Five Dollar AU58 PCGS. K-2, R.5. A group of Mormon soldier-pioneers, who had left a Midwestern settlement to fight on the American side in the Mexican-American War, were part of the first wave of miners during the California Gold Rush, and they were also among the first to leave; as Emily Mullins notes in the November 21, 2005 Coin World article "Mormons Strike Gold!", "... rather than becoming swept up in gold rush fever, the Mormons simply found enough gold to comprise a small fortune and complete [sic] the trip back to the Great Salt Lake Valley."
Much of that gold was in the form of dust, a time-honored but inconvenient method of carrying such precious material, and though measured-out parcels of gold dust served as money for some time, the leaders of the settlement sought the materials and equipment necessary to turn the gold into more convenient coinage. An interesting parallel can be made to the early coinage of the United States; though the devices used in each case were simple, rendered in low relief, and not particularly artistic, they were successful in communicating the ideals of the issuing authority. Both the crowned eye and the clasped hands on the coinages of 1849-1850 are richly evocative of the Mormons' spiritual aims.
Much of the early Mormon coinage was melted down or worn beyond recognition, leaving relatively few survivors even in better circulated grades. The five dollar coin of 1849 is a rarity in any condition, much less near-Mint as the present piece is. Warmly lustrous yellow-gold surfaces show glimpses of orange. Minimally marked with soft detail on the hands, as usual. Listed on page 374 of the 2009 Guide Book. Population: 4 in 58, 1 finer (3/09).

Coin Index Numbers: (NGC ID# 6J6V, PCGS# 10262, GSID# 11822)

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