Golden plates
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According to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates are the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith. Some accounts from people who reported handling the plates describe the plates as weighing from 30 to 60 pounds, gold in color, and composed of thin metallic pages engraved with hieroglyphics on both sides and bound with three D-shaped rings.
An 1893 engraving depicting Joseph Smith's description of receiving artifacts from the angel Moroni. The artifacts include the golden plates and a set of spectacles made of seer stones, which Smith called the Urim and Thummim. The sword of Laban and an ancient breastplate are shown nearby.
A 21st-century artistic representation of Joseph Smith translating the golden plates by examining a seer stone in his hat.
A 21st-century artistic representation of the Golden plates, Urim and Thummim, Sword of Laban, and Liahona
Full-scale model of the golden plates based on Joseph Smith's description
Joseph Smith
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Joseph Smith Jr. was an American religious leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thousands of followers by the time of his death fourteen years later. The religion he founded is followed to the present day by millions of global adherents and several churches, the largest of which is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Portrait, c. 1842
Smith said he received golden plates from the angel Moroni at the Hill Cumorah.
Emma Hale Smith, who married Joseph Smith in 1827.
Cover page of the Book of Mormon, original 1830 edition