1849 Mormon $5. K-2. Rarity-5. AU Details--Surfaces Smoothed (PCGS).Though the surfaces show an unnaturally smooth and satiny texture, the eye appeal remains strong for an example of this rare issue. The devices are evenly worn and considerably sharp, with good definition visible to the fingers of the clasped hands on the reverse. The middle digits of the date show a trivial softness that is typical of the issue, but the legends on each side are boldly pronounced. A small flaw in the planchet is visible on the obverse rim near 1 oclock, passing just to the right of the first C in the legend on the opposite side. Pale khaki-gold in hue and pleasing to examine in-hand. The California Gold Rush and the story of the early Mormon pioneers is an oft-overlooked tale. Starting in the mid-1840s, many members of the early Mormon Church travelled westward from Nauvoo, Illinois in what is sometimes called the Mormon Exodus. Fleeing constant battles with their neighbors, they settled in the Great Salt Lake Valley in what they called the State of Deseret. Additional migrations used Salt Lake City as a starting point for further trips westward to California. Many such groups settled in the San Francisco area, including several veterans of the Mormon Battalion who served during the Mexican-American War and later worked at John Sutters mill in Coloma, California. With the discovery of gold in 1848, the local Mormon community was well positioned to share in the bounty. Much of the gold was sent back to Salt Lake City and was not only used to pay the Churchs tithes but also to alleviate many of the economic hardships of the community. As with their brethren back in San Francisco, the use of gold dust as a medium of exchange proved problematic at best. By the end of 1848, Brigham Young and John Kay announced plans to set up a small mint in Salt Lake City to process the gold dust into coin. The coins were designed by Young and the dies cut by Kay with the first coins, 25 $10 pieces, being struck on December 12, 1848. The $5 coins were struck in 1849 and 1850 and each bear the abbreviation G.S.L.C.P.G. for "Great Salt Lake City Pure Gold," an interesting statement considering that the gold was neither from Utah nor was it pure. Because of the rather primitive minting and assay equipment, the purity and weight of the coins were consistently below face value. Ultimately, approximately $70,000 in Mormon gold coins were produced by the time the mint ceased operations in late 1850, though the vast majority of those coins ended up in the melting pot. Today, all Mormon gold coins are quite rare and particularly sought after by territorial gold specialists. Examples are particularly elusive when free of significant impairments, as here. With superior eye appeal for the assigned grade, in fact, this sharp AU example will serve as a lovely memento of an essential part of Gold Rush history.<p>
