This gold coin documents the emergence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah and its ties to the Mexican-American War and the Gold Rush. Facing discrimination for their religious beliefs in the East and Midwest, Mormons began moving west in the 1840s. A group led by Brigham Young founded Salt Lake City in 1847, and the city quickly became an important stopping point for Mormons traveling to and from California, including for members of the Mormon Battalion, the only religiously-defined unit to fight in the Mexican-American War (1846–48). A number of veterans continued on to California and staked claims just as the Gold Rush began in early 1848. The Mormon prospectors brought unrefined gold back with them to Salt Lake City. Young and John Moburn Kay, an elder of the church, soon founded a mint in Salt Lake City to transform the ore into coinage. This coin was struck in 1849 and is the first 20-dollar gold coin minted in the United States. On the obverse is an all-seeing-eye surmounted by a three-pointed Phrygian cap, a symbol of Mormon priesthood, surrounded by the motto: “Holiness to the Lord.” On the reverse are clasped hands beneath the letters “G.S.L.C.P.G.,” which stand for Great Salt Lake City Pure Gold. The imagery is restrained and bold, frankly telegraphing the theological mission of the mint. By establishing themselves in Utah the Mormons sought religious freedom, and by creating their own coinage they sought economic freedom. The venture proved short-lived, however, as the mint was plagued by issues over the purity of its gold and closed in 1850. Most Salt Lake City gold coins were traded to other mints and melted down, leaving only a few dozen surviving examples.