A rare and valuable gold coin with origins that can be traced to Utah Mormons in the mid-19th century will be on display for Salt Lake City residents this weekend.
It is currently in the possession of the city’s collectors shop All About Coins, but locals will have the opportunity to view it at this year’s Utah Coin Show. The event is being put on at the Miller Conference Center in the Salt Lake County city of Sandy.
All About Coins owner Bob Campbell says it was minted from California gold dust produced during the state’s gold rush between 1848 to 1855. The gold was then brought to Utah to be made into coins. Several years later, this one particular coin is worth well over a million dollars.
“This one is the finest known of the 20 or so that are still around,” he said. “All the others have been melted down over the years and are lost.”
Mormon history in the state of Utah dates back to 1847 when Brigham Young and 148 others arrived after a 1,300-mile journey from Illinois. Following this 111-day trek, thousands of others followed behind them. Now, Utah has over 2.1 million Mormon residents.
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Coin collectors market set to expand, researchers predict
India’s analytics firm Transparency Market Research has estimated that the global market for collectable coins will expand with a significant compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5 per cent over the next decade. It will be valued at approximately US$43.9 billion by 2034, the firm says.
Another Indian firm, Maximize Market Research, anticipates an even higher CAGR of 10.5 per cent in the coming years.
The market researchers say the demand for coins with historical significance like the one on display this weekend is high worldwide. Investing in valuable tokens and putting them in storage can yield substantial returns years down the road.
The Mormon coin in Salt Lake City was discovered in a safety deposit box that a family received from their late grandparents. They had no idea how much it was worth when they first looked at it.
The all-time-high price of gold, currently sitting at about US$2,658 per ounce, is another factor driving the coin collectors market.
rowan@mugglehead.com
