The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

four

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

coin, also officially called a Stella, is a unit of

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

equivalent to four

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

s. It was originally minted as a universal coin exchangeable with any currency around the world. Two varieties of the Stella were made:

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

with flowing hair, designed by

Charles E. Barber Charles Edward Barber (November 16, 1840 – February 18, 1917) was an American coin engraver who served as the sixth chief engraver of the United States Mint from 1879 until his death in 1917. He had a long and fruitful career in coinage, desig ...

, and with coiled hair, designed by

George T. Morgan George Thomas Morgan (November 24, 1845 – January 4, 1925) was a United States Mint engraver who is famous for designing many popular coins, such as the Morgan dollar, the reverse of the Columbian Exposition half dollar, and the reverse of the ...

. The flowing hair variety is the most commonly seen variety. Even though the coin was designed as a

pattern coin A pattern coin is a coin which has not been approved for release, but produced to evaluate a proposed coin design. They are often off-metal strike (using metals of lower value to test out the dies), to proof standard or piedforts. Many coin col ...

, similar to the Gobrecht dollar, many catalogs list the coin as a regular-issue item.

History

The Stella was a

produced to explore the possibility of joining the

Latin Monetary Union The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) was a 19th-century system that unified several European currencies into a single currency that could be used in all member states when most national currencies were still made out of gold and silver. It was establish ...

(LMU); these patterns were produced in 1879 and 1880 at the urging of

John A. Kasson John Adam Kasson (January 11, 1822 – May 18, 1910) was a nineteenth-century lawyer, politician and diplomat from south-central Iowa. Elected to the U.S. House six times, he repeatedly interrupted his congressional service to serve in the D ...

, a former chairman of the

United States House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures The Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures (established as the Committee on a Uniform System of Coinage, Weights, and Measures) was a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives from 1864 to 1946. History In 1864, the Co ...

. The Stella was meant to contain a quantity of precious metal similar to that of the standard LMU gold piece, the twenty-franc

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

minted in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, 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 A glyph () is any kind of purposeful mark. In typography, a glyph is "the specific shape, design, or representation of a character". It is a particular graphical representation, in a particular typeface, of an element of written language. A g ...

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 ''E pluribus unum'' ( , , ) – Latin for "Out of many, one" (also translated as "One out of many" or "One from many") – is a traditional motto of the United States, appearing on the Great Seal along with '' Annuit cœptis'' (Latin for "he ...

'' ("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 A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, but not before several hundred restrikes of the

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

flowing hair design had been produced and sold to Congressmen at the cost of production. These later became a source of

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

when it was noted that a number of them ended up as jewelry pieces adorning the necks of

madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...

s operating some of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

's most infamous

bordello A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub pa ...

NNC-US-1879-G$20-Quintuple Stella Pattern

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 A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. (Its gold content of 0.9675 troy oz (30.0926 grams) was worth $20 at the 1849 official price of $20.67/oz.) The coins are 34 mm x 2 mm and are made from ...

, 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 "In God We Trust" (also rendered as "In God we trust") is the United States national motto, official motto of the United States and of the U.S. state of Florida. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing ("Out of many, one"), whic ...

'' 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

External links

Stella Pattern images and historical information.
{{Coinage (United States) 1879 introductions Eagles on coins Goddess of Liberty on coins United States gold coins Works by Charles E. Barber