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

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.

Say the obvious thing plainly: 0.025 troy oz of gold bought as a Goldback costs considerably more than 0.025 troy oz bought as part of a Britannia, a Sovereign or a bar, and the premium is the price of the artwork and the format. Nobody should buy the 25 as their cheapest route into gold. Buy it because you want this note in particular, at a weight that justifies keeping it properly.

UK buyer notes

Yard Mint supplies Goldbacks from UK stock. They are treated as VAT-exempt investment-gold wafers, so there is no VAT to add at checkout.

Goldbacks are not UK legal tender. They can be bought, owned, sold, collected and voluntarily exchanged where both parties agree, but no UK business is required to accept one. They also do not share the Capital Gains Tax exemption that applies to Britannias and post-1837 Sovereigns, which are sterling currency. VAT and CGT are separate questions with different answers.

Resale depends on the gold price, the condition of the note and buyer demand at the time. A collector premium is not guaranteed.

This is general information, not personal tax or investment advice. Tax treatment depends on current rules and individual circumstances.

• 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.