Live auction - fwo_704234 - UTAH - SALT LAKE CITY - MORMON 2 1/2 Mormon Dollar 1849

UTAH - SALT LAKE CITY - MORMON

(1849-1860)

It was in September 1848 that the first quantities of gold dust appeared in the Great Salt Lake Valley, brought by veterans of the Mormon battalion of the American army.. They had spent the winter in California after their demobilization in 1847. On January 24, 1848, engineer James Marshall discovered gold in the American River region and therefore Mormon veterans were the first to leave with their wealth.. As in the rest of the world, the discovery of Californian gold caused a shock in Utah. As in California, the Mormon establishments suffered from a crying lack of circulating coins. The discovery and the mining were at the origin of a real economic boom. However, payments in gold dust were very inconvenient. Willard Richards, counselor to Brigham Young, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) and valued member of the community had the idea of setting up a small weighing office. The gold powder was thus weighed and put in bags in accordance with the usual monetary values. The bags therefore became means of payment. However, from gold sachets to gold coins, there was only one step which Richards took soon after. With the means of fortune at their disposal, gold coins were then minted.