5 Oklahoma Goldback | Aurum Gold Foil Note (24k)

Most Goldback artwork looks backwards to landscape or legend. The 5 Oklahoma looks at a specific week in 1905 when the Glenpool strike turned a farming state into an oil state.

The artwork

The virtue is Industria, Industry. A young woman strides through the oil fields, clothes still dusted with earth, wearing an expression that is somewhere between pride and disbelief. A tool belt stamped 1905 sits at her waist. A horseshoe necklace — the traditional sign of good fortune — swings as she moves.

Behind her a derrick erupts and the wildcatters cheer. These were the speculative prospectors who drilled where the geology said no, and whose successes built towns and livelihoods out of Oklahoma's red dirt.

The rest of the composition fills in the world around the strike:

• Honey bees, Oklahoma's state insect, for the steady collective work that turns a discovery into an industry.
• Indian blanket wildflowers blooming in the prairie grass at her feet.
• An early oil wagon marked Glenpool, from the rough days of petroleum transport.
• A windmill turning in the distance — the rural backbone the boom was built on top of.

The state motto runs along the bottom: “Labor Omnia Vincit” — Labour Conquers All Things.

Who this note suits

The 5 holds 1/200 of a troy ounce of 24-carat gold and sits in the middle of the range, where the premium per gram starts to look more reasonable without the outlay of a 10 or 25. If you are buying one Oklahoma note rather than the set, this is usually the one to take — it has the most narrative detail of any denomination in the series.

What it is not: a cheap way to buy gold. Even at this denomination the premium over spot is substantial, and Goldbacks are not the product to choose if your aim is maximum metal per pound. That is what bars and Britannias are for.

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 1/200 troy oz (0.005 oz) of 24-carat gold.
• Grade: (U) Crisp Uncirculated
• Metal content: 0.005 troy oz
• Purity: .999
• Thickness: 0.10 mm
• Size: 6.5 cm x 13.01 cm (2.56 in x 5.125 in)
• Manufactured in the USA.

The Oklahoma Series

Each denomination carries its own original artwork and a proportional quantity of 24-carat gold. View all Oklahoma Goldbacks, read the Oklahoma collector guide, or browse every Goldback series.