Golden Plates

The Golden Plates is the name most frequently used to refer to the "gold plates" that Joseph Smith, Jr. said he received from the angel Moroni and used as the ancient source for the English translation of The Book of Mormon. In reference to the plates, the Book of Mormon was commonly known as the "Golden Bible" during the 1830s. Smith later became the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Other plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition

In addition to the Golden Plates, there are several other mentions of ancient records recorded on metal plates in the Latter Day Saint tradition.

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The text of the Book of Mormon itself refers to several other sets of plates:

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• The brass plates — originally owned by Laban, containing the writings of Old Testament prophets up to the time shortly before the Babylonian Exile, as well as the otherwise unknown prophets Zenos and Zenoch, and possibly others.
• The plates of Nephi (sometimes the "large plates of Nephi") — the source of the text abridged by Mormon and engraved upon the Golden Plates.
• The small plates of Nephi — the source of the First Book of Nephi, the Second Book of Nephi, the Book of Jacob, the Book of Enos, the Book of Jarom, and the Book of Omni, which replaced the lost 116 pages.
• The twenty-four plates found by the people of Limhi containing the record of the Jaredites, translated by King Mosiah and abridged by Moroni as the Book of Ether.

In addition to plates relating to the Book of Mormon, Smith acquired a set of 6 plates known as the Kinderhook Plates in 1843.

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James J. Strang, one of the rival claimants to succeed Smith also claimed to discover and translate a set of plates known as the Voree Plates.

Related Topics:
James J. Strang - Voree Plates

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Criticisms

A criticism involves the discrepancy concerning the weight of the plates. If the plates were of pure gold, 60 pounds would be very low for an estimate of its weight.

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Dan Vogel writes:

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: A block of solid tin measuring 7 x 8 x 6 inches, or 288 cubic inches, would weigh 74.67 pounds. If one allows for a 30 percent reduction due to the unevenness and space between the plates, the package would then weigh 52.27 pounds. Using the same calculations, plates of gold weigh 140.50 pounds; copper, 64.71 pounds; a mixture of gold and copper, between 65 and 140 pounds. (Vogel, The Making of a Prophet, 600)

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While this does not cast doubt on the existence of the plates, it challenges the assumption that they were pure gold. Referring to Smith's statement that the plates "had the appearance of gold," some have speculated that the metal of the plates was tumbaga, the name given by the Spaniards to a versatile alloy of gold and copper which could "be cast, drawn, hammered, gilded, soldered, welded, plated, hardened, annealed, polished, engraved, embossed, and inlaid."

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Tumbaga can be treated with a simple acid like citric acid to dissolve the copper on the surface. What is then left is a shiny layer of 23-karat gold on top of a harder, more durable copper-gold alloy sheet. This process was widely used by the pre-Columbian cultures of central America to make religious objects.

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Tumbaga plates of the dimensions Joseph Smith described would weigh between fifty-three and eighty-six pounds.

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With the lack of physical evidence today, the Golden Plates remain solely an article of faith rather than an actual artifact or religous relic.

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