United States | |
| Value | 4United 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 thePhiladelphia Mint. |
| Obverse | |
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| Design | Liberty with flowing hair |
| Designer | Charles E. Barber |
| Design date | 1879 |
.jpg) | |
| Design | Liberty with coiled hair |
| Designer | George T. Morgan |
| Design date | 1879 |
| Reverse | |
| |
| Design | Star |
| Designer | Charles E. Barber |
| Design date | 1879 |
TheUnited States fourdollar coin, also officially called aStella, is a unit ofcurrency equivalent to fourUnited States dollars.
It was originally minted as a coin tied toLatin 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 byCharles E. Barber, and with coiled hair, designed byGeorge T. Morgan.[1] The flowing hair variety is the most commonly seen variety. Even though the coin was designed as apattern coin,[2] similar to theGobrecht dollar, many catalogs list the coin as a regular-issue item.
The Stella was apattern coin produced to explore the possibility of joining theLatin Monetary Union (LMU); these patterns were produced in 1879 and 1880 at the urging ofJohn A. Kasson, a former chairman of theUnited States House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures.[3] The Stella was meant to contain a quantity of precious metal similar to that of the standard LMU gold piece, the twenty-francNapoleon minted inFrance,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-pointedglyph variant of the "★" is used) to indicate the metallic content of the coin, and the date.The reverse star had the inscriptionsONE STELLA and400 CENTS, while the reverse rim had the legendsUNITED STATES OF AMERICA andFOUR DOL., and circling the star but between its points were the legendsE PLURIBUS UNUM ("Out of many, one") andDEO EST GLORIA ("To God is the glory").
The coin and the prospect of joining the Latin Monetary Union were rejected byCongress,[4] but not before several hundredrestrikes of theBarber flowing hair design had been produced and sold to Congressmen at the cost of production. These later became a source ofscandal when it was noted that a number of them ended up as jewelry pieces adorning the necks ofmadams operating some ofWashington's most infamousbordellos.[citation needed]
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 thedouble eagle, replacing the stars on the obverse with "★30★G★1.5★S★3.5★C★35★G★R★A★M★S★", and the mottoIN GOD WE TRUST on the reverse with the sameDEO EST GLORIA found on the reverse of the stella.[5]
Only 425 examples of the Stella were made. All 1880 coins are rare; 25 examples are known.[1]
