Stella Four Dollars 1879-1880

About This Series

Proposed by Congressman John A. Kasson as a universal international trade coin, the four-dollar Stella was calculated to align with major European currencies — the Austrian 8-florin, French 20-franc, and Italian 20-lira — facilitating commerce without constant conversion. Charles Barber designed the Flowing Hair type featuring Liberty with loosely draped hair, while George T. Morgan created the Coiled Hair variant. Struck in gold at 7 grams in a metric-friendly alloy of 85.71% gold, 4.29% silver, and 10% copper, the Stella was produced exclusively as a pattern. Approximately 425 Flowing Hair specimens were struck in 1879, many distributed to Congress for evaluation, while only 15-25 Coiled Hair examples survive from both years combined. The 1880 Coiled Hair, with fewer than 10 known, ranks among the most valuable American coins. Congress ultimately rejected the denomination, leaving the Stella as a tantalizing glimpse of international monetary cooperation that might have been.