MORMON CURRENCY | A  One-Dollar "Valley Note" issued by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Great Salt Lake City, 20 January, 1849

Property from the Eric C. Caren Collection

MORMON CURRENCY

A One-Dollar "Valley Note" issued by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Great Salt Lake City, 20 January, 1849

One-dollar note printed on a slip of paper (2 x 3 3/4 in.; 50 x 96 mm), with original embossed seal of the Twelve Apostles, no serial number, issued to H. K. Whitney, a Bishop of the Church, and signed by H. C. Kimball and Thomas Bullock, and with proxy signature of Brigham Young. The consignor has independently obtained a letter of authenticity from PSA that will accompany the lot.

A fine example of a "Valley Note," the first printing done in Utah. The printing historican Douglas McMurtrie quotes Brigham Young's own account of the genesis of this currency: "They had gold dust, but many refused to take it, as there was a waste in weighing it for exchange. To meet this want, we employed brother John Kay to coin the dust, but upon trial he broke all the crucibles and could not proceed. I then offered the gold dust back to the people, but they did not want it. I then told them we would issue paper till the gold dust could be coined. The Municipal Council agreed to have such a currency, and appointed myself and President Heber C. Kimball and bishop N.K. Whitney to issue it. The first bill, for one dollar, was issued on the first of this month [January 1849]."