By The Associated Press | Posted - Jun. 23, 2016 at 7:34 a.m.

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NEW YORK (AP) — A first edition of The Book of Mormon printed in the upstate New York town linked to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sold at auction for more than $50,000.

Swann Auction Galleries in Manhattan says the rare 1830 edition was sold Tuesday for $52,500. The buyer's name was not released. The item had an estimated pre-sale price of $40,000 to $60,000.

The auction house says the first edition of the scripture of the LDS church was released just days before the church's official establishment in early April 1830.

It was published in Palmyra in western New York, where Smith had a family farm. Mormons believe Smith translated the Book of Mormon from metal plates he found in nearby hills.

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