I assume you are asking about the plates which were translated by Joseph Smith into the Book of Mormon?
Those plates were a compilation of four groups of plates - the small and large plates of Nephi, the plates of Mormon, the plates of Ether, and the plates of Brass.
The plates of Nephi were written between 580 BC and 321 AD.
The plates of Mormon were written between 355 and 421 AD.
The plates of Ether were written between 2200 and 300 BC.
The plates of Brass were written before the time of the Book of Mormon and contained the writings of Moses, Isaiah, and other Old Testament prophets. Therefore they are from before 600 BC.
As Joseph Smith returned the plates to the Angel Moroni following the translation, the actual plates are not in existence on the earth and therefore their ages cannot be determined by scientific means.
Mormon passed the plates on to his son, Moroni, who finished the work of transcribing the plates and writing some of his own story. Then Mormon was killed in a battle, leaving Moroni the last righteous Nephite standing.
The Mormon religion is based on a series of golden plates that Joseph Smith Jr. found buried after being lead to them by an angel. Since than the text on the plates were transcribed into the Book of Mormon.
Mormon is a nickname for Latter Day Saints. This is because of their belief in the Book of Mormon. Mormon is the name of the man who compiled and abridged the Book of Mormon. He lived in about the 4th century. He gathered the historical and religious texts of his people, and combined them onto one set of metal plates. These plates were translated by Joseph Smith in the late 1820's to become the Book of Mormon. See the related links below to learn more about him or to read the Book of Mormon online.
Joseph Smith claimed to have found such plates, which unfortunately are no longer available for viewing, having been taken back up to heaven after being translated. The plates were translated into The Book of Mormon, which can be read at the "Related Link" below.
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the "Mormon" church), claimed to have been led by an angel to ancient metal plates buried in a hillside near his home. He then translated engravings from these plates, which were in an ancient language, into English through the power of God.A believing Mormon would not say that Joseph Smith "received ideas" for the Book of Mormon, because they believe that he translated the plates directly from the ancient tongue into English, rather than reading them and then using the ideas to write his own book.Click here if you'd like to read a more detailed article about the discovery of the plates and the translation of the Book of Mormon.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that Joseph Smith was lead to the place where some ancient metal plates were buried by an angel of God. The writings on these plates were then translated into the Book of Mormon by the power of God.
Joseph Smith found the plates that he translated into the Book of Mormon, along with the Urim and Thummim (mentioned in the Old Testament and a means of translating the plates) buried in a hill near his home in upstate New York. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly called "Mormons") believe that he was lead to the place by an angel. You can read the Book of Mormon, which he translated from the plates, or learn more about this story from the links provided below.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon" church) believes that the Book of Mormon was written on golden colored (although not necessarily the metal gold) plates, delivered to the prophet Joseph Smith by the Angel Moroni. Joseph Smith then translated the plates by the power of God and published the writings as The Book of Mormon. Mormons use the Book of Mormon side-by-side with the Bible. Other religious groups which have broken off from the Mormon Church, such as the Community of Christ and the Apostolic United Brethren also use the Book of Mormon as scripture. You can learn more about the Book of Mormon at the "Related Links" below.
Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park was created in 1991.
No, the Mormon religion was founded by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
Solomon Spalding wrote a document now called the "Spalding Manuscript". Critics claim that Joseph Smith did not actually translate ancient plates into the Book of Mormon, but rather wrote the Book of Mormon himself and based it on the Spalding Manuscript. This claim is largely denied by scholars, both Mormon and non-Mormon, because of the testimonies of several people who saw or handled the ancient plates, and because modern writing evaluation technology has concluded that the Book of Mormon could not have been written by a single man (especially one with next to no literary edcuation, as Joseph Smith had).
I'm not quite sure what you mean by a 'plate'. I have been a Mormon for 26 years, and all we do with plates is eat off them. But I am going to assume that by plates you are referring to the gold plates, which were translated by Joseph Smith and published as the Book of Mormon. (the plates themselves were given back to the angel, so they are not in our possession) We use the Book of Mormon as a companion scripture to the Bible. We believe that all scripture is equal, and that there should be no parts emphasized over others. So there is no 'main scripture' or 'most important' scripture, there is only scripture, which is all equally the Word of God, all equally sacred, and should be studied equally.