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

Description

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.

Make it part of your story

A family story, a shared journey or a favourite detail can be the reason to choose Oklahoma. Compare the designs and make a collection that reflects what matters to you.

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

Specifications

• 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.