25 South Dakota Goldback | Aurum Gold Foil Note (24k)

Description

The 25 carries the last new virtue South Dakota introduced, and the one with the strangest source: a lake legend in which a woman is marooned on an island her own suitors built, and kept alive by a pelican. Laurea, or Honour, stands on that island.

The artwork

The story belongs to Maiden's Isle on Lake Kampeska, one of the state's glacial lakes. Many of those lakes have legends attached; this one concerns a young woman called Minnecotah, who was in love with a hunter from Wahpeton, some distance away.

Local men wanted to marry her. To hold them off, she said she would marry whichever of them could throw a stone farthest into the lake. They threw for days while she encouraged them and stalled, insisting the waves made it impossible to judge who had thrown the farthest. Slowly, an island began to form where the stones fell.

When the suitors worked out that the contest was a ruse, they seized her and left her on the island they had built, without food, to force a choice between marrying one of them and starving. She kept faith with the man she had promised herself to and chose neither. A white pelican brought her fish and berries while she waited. The hunter she loved eventually returned and took her away, and when the suitors found her gone they concluded that the sun god had sent the pelican to carry her off.

That legend sets the whole composition:

• Laurea stands on a stone island in the lake, representing Maiden's Isle.
• A pelican flies above her.
• Raspberries sit in the foreground.
• Further elements are drawn from the Lakota legend of the flute, the legend of how the porcupine got its quills, and the legend of the dream catcher, as told by the Aktá Lakota Museum & Cultural Center.

The inscription broadens the point beyond keeping a promise. “Honor to the Giver” asks the viewer to honour their commitments and keep their word, and to praise the Maker of all even while going through their trials.

Who this note suits

At 1/40 troy oz the 25 holds twenty-five times the gold of a 1 in a single note, which makes it the efficient way to complete a South Dakota set once the smaller denominations are in place. It is also the one collectors tend to reach for when they want the story as much as the metal, and it is a serious gift rather than a novelty one.

Make it part of your story

Let a South Dakota scene become part of a collection with your own meaning. A favourite animal, landscape or story is a good place to begin.

The price includes artwork and manufacture as well as gold. Condition and collector demand can affect resale.

Specifications

• Contains 1/40 troy oz (0.025 oz) of 24-carat gold.
• Grade: (U) Crisp Uncirculated
• Metal content: 0.025 troy oz
• Purity: .999
• Thickness: 0.10 mm
• Size: 6.5 cm x 15.55 cm (2.56 in x 6.125 in)
• Manufactured in the USA.

The South Dakota Series

Each denomination carries its own original artwork and a proportional quantity of 24-carat gold. View all South Dakota Goldbacks or browse every Goldback series.