Josh Rust has seen exciting collections before, but nothing quite like this: 500 to 600 pieces of historical currency, including early Mormon bills and coins, worth an estimated $1.5million.

"There's just a wide variety of things," Rust said. "Money was issued by Mormons before they made it to Salt Lake, and then things that were issued once they were in Salt Lake."

The collection will be displayed and sold at the Rust Rare Coin showroom in downtown Salt Lake City starting Friday after an invitation-only event Thursday night for private collectors andcustomers.

The collection came from a father and son based in Utah who have built it up over 40 years. It's being sold by Rust Rare Coin on an outright sale and consignment basis.

Because of the scarcity of U.S. money in the West in the 1840s through the 1890s, Rust explained, Mormon pioneers and settlers often created their own bills and notes to exchange for goods andservices.

Rust said early Mormon currency was often not uniform with value backed by livestock and was accepted only in certain regional areas, but was a "known commodity."

Among the collection is a Kirtland Note worth an estimated $32,000. Before the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake City, some pioneer leaders set up the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Co. in the1830s in Ohio to issue their own currency.

"A lot of those notes that were issued are now collectible and sought after," Rust said. "They were a part of that Mormon history and carry signatures from Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon and otherprominent Mormon pioneer members."

To read the complete article, see:
Hundreds of rare Mormon coins and bills sold privately in downtownSalt Lake City (http://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/11/03/hundreds-of-rare-mormon-coins-and-bills-sold-privately-in-downtown-salt-lake-city/)