1530

Tied for Second Finest $10 Countersigned Kirtland Notes. 1837 $10 Kirtland Safety Society Bank. Kirt

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:3,500.00 USD Estimated At:7,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Tied for Second Finest $10 Countersigned Kirtland Notes. 1837 $10 Kirtland Safety Society Bank. Kirt
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Tied for Second Finest $10 Countersigned Kirtland Notes. 1837 $10 Kirtland Safety Society Bank. Kirtland, OH. Countersigned. Nyholm 32. Rust 71. PMG Very Fine 30. S/N 1584 March 8. Relatively bright with bold signatures. Well centered although lower corners unevenly cut. Just several light folds. Aesthetically, the finest we have seen.
This is one of the gems in this auction as it was one of the few Kirtland notes which was re-signed and re-issued for use in Salt Lake City. For collectors the seven signatures/monograms on this note make it exceptionally desirable. Originally signed by Joseph Smith Jr. and S. Rigdon, in Kirtland it acquired the additional signatures of Brigham Young, N.K. Whitney, Heber C. Kimball and the monogram initial “TB” of Thomas Bullock. Although known to use multiple scribes for signing in Kirtland the signatures of Smith and Rigdon cannot be confirmed or verified to be those of the Prophet or Rigdon themselves however the re-signing signatures of the other four including that of Brigham Young are accepted to be their actual signatures.


These countersigned notes are literally a who’s who of autographs of the early leadership of the Mormon Church. Joseph Smith, the first Prophet of the Church was followed by Brigham Young. Sidney Rigdon was a prominent leader of the early Church who worked closely with Joseph Smith Jr. but was later excommunicated. It is interesting the way the signatures were applied as Heber C. Kimball greatly disliked Rigdon and re-signed these notes on top of Rigdon’s signature in an attempt to obliterate it. The scrip TB was that of Thomas Bullock who was a Secretary to the First Presidency of the Church and his initial further authorized these notes as valid.


These notes when re-issued in Salt Lake City were embossed with the “Seal of The Twelve Apostles.” This embossing soon wore flat and cannot be seen on most of the countersigned notes however on this note it is still faintly visible on the left side of the note. When the Kirtland bank failed in Ohio their banknotes were worthless and essentially not backed by any intrinsic value. When re-issued in Salt Lake City they were backed by gold and gold dust which was brought into the valley from the returning members of the Mormon Battalion who were some of the original 49’ers who discovered gold in California. This fulfilled a prophecy stated by Joseph Smith in Ohio that these notes would someday be as good as gold.


Note: Although depicted as “Rust 8” on the PMG label it is actually “Rust 71.” Rust 8 is a non-countersigned $10 and this is a countersigned $10.
Only two dozen Known of the initial 56 issued. This specimen is tied with one other in the PMG Census for the second finest with just one in VF-30.
EX: LDS Mormon Collection