[Utah]: Young, Brigham:

$3,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[PRINTED "VALLEY NOTE" CURRENCY IN DENOMINATION OF $2.00, SIGNED BY BRIGHAM YOUNG WITH PRINTED HEADING: "G.S.L. CITY. JAN. 20. 1849"]. This small piece of paper money printed by the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City is an example of the earliest recorded printing done in Utah. Called a "Valley Note" by Alvin E. Rust, this form of paper currency was printed in several denominations using a font of script type of the style used for calling cards. McMurtrie quotes a passage from a manuscript history of Brigham Young which describes the interesting circumstances under which this paper money was printed:"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]. The bills were signed by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, & Thomas Bullock, clerk.""...It is definite enough that the first use of the press by the Mormon settlers was in January, 1849, for the production of paper currency. Furthermore, it is gratifyingly definite that the first printer

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