Stella (United States coin)

Four-dollar coin minted 1879–1880

Stella
Obverse
United States
Value	4 United States dollars
Diameter	22 mm
Edge	reeded
Composition	85.7% gold, 4.3% silver, 10% copper
Years of minting	1879–1880
Mint marks	None, all were struck at the Philadelphia Mint.

Design	Liberty with flowing hair
Designer	Charles E. Barber
Design date	1879

Design	Liberty with coiled hair
Designer	George T. Morgan
Design date	1879
Reverse

Design	Star
Designer	Charles E. Barber
Design date	1879

The United States four dollar coin, also officially called a Stella, is a unit of currency equivalent to four United States dollars.

It was originally minted as a coin tied to Latin Monetary Union standards, in preparation for possible U.S. entry to the Union. Two varieties of the Stella were made: Liberty with flowing hair, designed by Charles E. Barber, and with coiled hair, designed by George T. Morgan. The flowing hair variety is the most commonly seen variety. Even though the coin was designed as a pattern coin, similar to the Gobrecht dollar, many catalogs list the coin as a regular-issue item.

History

The Stella was a pattern coin produced to explore the possibility of joining the Latin Monetary Union (LMU); these patterns were produced in 1879 and 1880 at the urging of John A. Kasson, a former chairman of the United States House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures. The Stella was meant to contain a quantity of precious metal similar to that of the standard LMU gold piece, the twenty-franc Napoleon minted in France, Switzerland, and other LMU countries. However, the composition and weight of the Stella was not a precise match to the LMU standard: the total weight was 7 grams (rather than 6.45 grams), the gold content was 6 grams of fine gold (rather than 5.81 grams), and the coins were only .857 fine (rather than .900).

Two different designs obverse were produced: one with flowing hair; in the other the hair is coiled. Both bear the same inscription: "★6★G★.3★S★.7★C★7★G★R★A★M★S★" (the five-pointed glyph variant of the "★" is used) to indicate the metallic content of the coin, and the date. The reverse star had the inscriptions ONE STELLA and 400 CENTS, while the reverse rim had the legends UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and FOUR DOL., and circling the star but between its points were the legends E PLURIBUS UNUM ("Out of many, one") and DEO EST GLORIA ("To God is the glory").

The coin and the prospect of joining the Latin Monetary Union were rejected by Congress, but not before several hundred restrikes of the Barber flowing hair design had been produced and sold to Congressmen at the cost of production. These later became a source of scandal when it was noted that a number of them ended up as jewelry pieces adorning the necks of madams operating some of Washington's most infamous bordellos.

Five examples of a pattern quintuple stella denominated at 20 dollars were produced in 1879 as well. These coins used a modified version of the then-current Liberty Head (Coronet) design of the double eagle, replacing the stars on the obverse with "★30★G★1.5★S★3.5★C★35★G★R★A★M★S★", and the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on the reverse with the same DEO EST GLORIA found on the reverse of the stella.

Only 425 examples of the Stella were made. All 1880 coins are rare; 25 examples are known.

References

Yeoman, R. S.; Bressett, Kenneth; Garrett, Jeff; Bowers, Q. David (2019). A Guide Book of United States Coins (72nd ed.). Pelham, AL: Whitman Publishing. p. 274.
"The Four-Dollar Stella". NGCCoin.com. Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
"Coin of the Week: Discovered Flowing Hair Stella". Coinagemag.com. COINage Magazine. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
"Rare gold coin from 1880 sells for $2.75M at auction". FoxNews.com. Fox News Network, LLC. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
"Classic US Coins – Gold Stella $4 Coin Goes to Auction". CoinWeek.com. CoinWeek, LLC. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
Yeoman, R. S.; Bressett, Kenneth; Garrett, Jeff; Bowers, Q. David (2019). A Guide Book of United States Coins (72nd ed.). Pelham, AL: Whitman Publishing. p. 274.

External links

Stella Pattern images and historical information.

Circulating coinage of the United States

Half cent (1⁄2¢)

Nova Constellatio (1783)
Liberty Cap (1793–1797)
Draped Bust (1800–1808)
Classic Head (1809–1836)
Braided Hair (1840–1857)

Large cent and
penny (1¢)

Fugio (Franklin) (1787)
Silver center (1792)
Chain (1793)
Wreath (1793)
Liberty Cap (1793–1796)
Draped Bust (1796–1807)
Classic Head (1808–1814)
Matron Head (1816–1839)
Braided Hair (1839–1857, 1868)
Ring (1850–1851, 1853, 1884–1885)
Flying Eagle (1856–1858, patterns struck in 1854–1855)
Indian Head (1859–1909, patterns struck in 1858)
Lincoln (1909–present)

Two cents (2¢)

Billon (1836)
Bronze (1864–1873, patterns struck in 1863)

Three cents (3¢)

Silver (1851–1873)
Bronze (Coronet Head) (1863)
Nickel (Liberty Head) (1865–1889)

Half dime and
nickel (5¢)

Half disme (1792)
Flowing Hair (1794–1795)
Draped Bust (1796–1797, 1800–1805)
Capped Bust (1829–1837)
Washington (1866; 1909–1910)
Seated Liberty (1837–1873)
Shield (1866–1883)
Liberty Head (1883–1913)
Buffalo (Indian Head) (1913–1938)
Jefferson (1938–present)

Dime (10¢)

Nova Constellatio (1783)
Disme (1792)
Draped Bust (1796–1807)
Capped Bust (1809–1837)
Seated Liberty (1837–1891)
Barber (1892–1916)
Mercury (1916–1945)
Roosevelt (1946–present)

Twenty cents (20¢)

Seated Liberty (1875–1878)

Quarter (25¢)

Draped Bust (1796–1807)
Capped Bust (1815–1838)
Seated Liberty (1838–1891)
Barber (1892–1916)
Standing Liberty (1916–1930)
Washington (eagle reverse) (1932–1998)
Washington (bicentennial) (1975–1976)
Washington (50 State) (1999–2008)
Washington (D.C. and U.S. Territories) (2009)
Washington (America the Beautiful) (2010–2021)
Washington (crossing the Delaware reverse) (2021)
Washington (American Women) (2022–2025)
Washington (Semiquincentennial) (2026)
Washington (youth sports) (2027–2030)

Half dollar (50¢)

Nova Constellatio (1783)
Flowing Hair (1794–1795)
Draped Bust (1796–1807)
Capped Bust (1807–1839)
Seated Liberty (1839–1891)
Barber (1892–1915)
Walking Liberty (1916–1947)
Franklin (1948–1963)
Kennedy (1964–present)
Kennedy (bicentennial) (1975–1976)

Dollar ($1)

Continental Currency (Fugio or Franklin) (1776)
Nova Constellatio (1783)
Flowing Hair (1794–1795)
Draped Bust (1795–1804)
Gobrecht (1836–1839)
Seated Liberty (1840–1873)
Trade (1873–1885)
Morgan (1878–1904; 1921; 2021–present)
Peace (1921–1935; 2021–present; patterns struck in 1964)
Eisenhower (1971–1978)
Eisenhower (bicentennial) (1975–1976)
Susan B. Anthony (1979–1981; 1999)
Sacagawea (2000–present)
Presidential (2007–2016; 2020)
American Innovation (2018–2032)

Gold

Gold dollar ($1)	Liberty Head (1849–1854) Indian Princess (1854–1889)
Quarter eagle ($2.50)	Draped Bust (1796–1807) Capped Bust (1808–1834) Classic Head (1834–1839) Liberty Head (1840–1907) Indian Head (1908–1929)
Three dollars ($3)	Indian Princess (1854–1889)
Half eagle ($5)	Draped Bust (1795–1807) Capped Bust (1808–1834) Classic Head (1834–1838) Liberty Head (1839–1908) Indian Head (1908–1929)
Eagle ($10)	Capped Bust (1795–1804) Liberty Head (1838–1907) Indian Head (1907–1933)
Double eagle ($20)	Liberty Head (1850–1907, pattern struck in 1849) Quintuple Stella (1879) Saint-Gaudens (1907–1933)

Other canceled
denominations

Two and a half cent piece (2.5¢) (not minted)
Two dollar piece ($2) (not minted)
Stella ($4) (1879–1880)
Half union ($50) (1877)
Union ($100) (not minted)

(italics) Obsolete
Canceled
(bold) Currently in production
Currently produced for collectors only
(bold and italics) Planned but production not commenced

Canceled United States currency and coinage

Topics

Coins

Silver center cent (1792)
Ring cent (1850–1851, 1853, 1884-1885)
Two-cent billon (1836)
Two and a half cent piece (not minted)
Three-cent bronze (1863)
Ring nickel (1884-1885)
Two dollar piece (not minted)

Gold coins	Stella (1879–1880) Half union (1877) Union (not minted)

Currency

United States three-dollar bill

v t e Coinage of the United States
Circulating	1¢ 5¢ 10¢ 25¢ 50¢ $1
Obsolete	1⁄2¢ 1¢ (Fugio) 1¢ (large size) 2¢ 3¢ (silver) 3¢ (nickel) 5¢ (silver) 20¢ $1 (gold) $2.5 $3 $5 $10 $20
Canceled	2¢ (billon) 2+1⁄2¢ 3¢ (bronze) $2 $4 $50 $100
Commemorative	1800s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Bullion	Silver Eagle (1986–present) Gold Eagle (1986–present) Platinum Eagle (1997–present) Gold Buffalo (2006–present) First Spouse (gold) (2007–2016; 2020) Palladium Eagle (2017–present) America the Beautiful silver bullion coins (2010–2021) American Liberty high relief gold coin (2015–present)
Special sets	Proof Set (1936–present) Mint Set (1947–present) Special Mint Set (1964–1967) Souvenir Set (1972–1998) Silver Proof Set (1976, 1992–present) Prestige Set (1983–1997)

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