1860 Mormon $5. K-6. Rarity-5+. AU-50 (PCGS). CAC. CMQ. OGH.

Here is a stunning AU rarity to represent this unique design in the brief and challenging Mormon gold series of 1849 to 1860. This is a premium Mormon gold coin irrespective of denomination or date, in fact, with both sides retaining considerable mint luster in a softly frosted finish. Sharply struck overall and dressed in beautiful vivid olive-orange color. By 1860 the Mormon pioneers of Utah were no strangers to coining gold, having run a small minting operation in Salt Lake City in 1849 and 1850 where $5, $10, and $20 pieces were struck from gold dust sent back from California. The coins were produced using equipment that could not adequately assay and refine the gold. Unfortunately, the mint masters failed to adjust the weights upward to compensate for these irregularities. As a consequence, when Jacob Eckfeldt and William DuBois at the Philadelphia Mint performed their assays of Mormon gold in 1850, they found that "the weights are more irregular, and the values very deficient." The result, as related by Don Kagin in his 1981 reference on private and territorial gold coins, was the appearance of "many newspaper accounts vilifying the Mormon coins and labeling them as 'spurious,' 'debased,' and 'vile falsehoods.'" The coins' reputation was severely affected and they would only be accepted in commerce at a steep discount. By late 1850, the Desert Mint had ceased operations after striking $70,000 face value in gold coin. In 1859, however, another Western gold rush was on, this time in Colorado, giving the Mormons one final chance at coinage. Large quantities of the precious metal had been found, bringing gold dust and nuggets to Utah Territory. Led by Brigham Young, the minting operation reopened, eventually to use an entirely different design than that of 1849 and 1850. This new and unique design depicts a lion in repose in a field of grass with the legend HOLINESS TO THE LORD written using the new Desert alphabet and the date 1860. The reverse depicts a spread-wing eagle with the Mormon beehive on its chest, the legend DESERET ASSAY OFFICE PURE GOLD around the border and the denomination 5. D. below. Unlike the earlier Mormon gold pieces, the 1860 $5 coins were struck from Colorado gold of considerably higher purity - said to be .917 fine and alloyed with native silver. While they were successful within the Mormon community and accepted at face value, the reputation of the 1849- and 1850-dated coins could not be overcome and the 1860 pieces were once again accepted only at a steep discount outside the Great Salt Lake Valley, restricting the coins' usefulness in commerce. The Mormon's new mint was established in May 1859, by pioneer silversmith and dentist James Madison Barlow. The first 202 $5 gold coins of this second Deseret Mint were struck between July 27 and the end of that year. Interestingly, Don Kagin and David McCarthy state in their new reference America's Gold Age: Private & Pioneer Gold Coins of the United States 1786-1862 (2023) that Barlow's own testimony suggests that these coins were actually struck using the old 1849-dated dies made by John Kay. The additional 587 pieces that comprise the total 789-coin mintage for the second Desert Mint's $5 gold issue were delivered between January 14, 1860 and March 8, 1861, and feature the lion and beehive design from dies made by Barlow and Dougal Brown. Regardless of exactly when they were coined and from what dies, the Mormon $5 coins of the 1859 to 1861 striking period were eventually made non-current in March 1862, thus ending the last Mormon experiment in private gold coinage. As with their earlier-dated counterparts, the vast majority of 1860 Mormon $5s ended up in the melting pot after only a brief stint in circulation. Survivors are challenging to locate in all circulated grades, especially when problem free and attractive, as here.

PCGS# 10268. NGC ID: 2BCG.

Estimate: $60000