$4 Gold Coin
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$4 Gold Stella Reverse
$4 Gold Stella Obverse
The $4 Gold Coins is a pattern coin minted in 1879 and 1880 in a possible preparation for the United States to join the Latin Monetary Union. Starting from 1860s, a number of countries made an attempt of currency unification. In 1865, four countries: France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland, formed the Union, and during the next twenty years more than ten other European countries joined the Union. The idea of the United States joining the Latin Monetary Union was raised in the end of 1870s; and in 1879, US ambassador John Kasson proposed a new $4 gold coin that would have gold content measured in metric units and adjusted to the standards used by the Latin Monetary Union.
The suggestion of J. Kasson was considered by the Congress serious enough to order a trial run of $4 gold coins. As a result, two designs were prepared by Charles E. Barber and George T. Morgan: Barber's version had an obverse with a portrait of Liberty with long, flowing hair, and Morgan's $4 gold coin had a portrait with the hair coiled up in a bun. Both types had the same reverse by Charles E. Barber with a large five-pointed star. The $4 gold coin was called One Stella (after the star) and minted in 1879 and 1880. In fact, they were minted in a variety of metals, including gold, copper, and aluminium.
The coin specifications are as follows:
| Gold composition: | 6.0 g Gold, 0.3 g silver, 0.7 g Copper |
| Weight: | 7.00 g |
| Diameter: | 22.0 mm |
| Thickness: | 1.52 mm |
The idea of the US joining the Latin Monetary Union was abandoned and plans for minting $4 gold coins were cancelled. Some of the reasons of the Stella to fail were that Double Eagle $20 gold coins were more convenient for international trades and were already available. Another reason was that even though $4 gold coin was designed by the European standards but in reality it was not of the same value as any other of the European gold coins and it would create problems with giving change in transactions that would any other existing US gold coins have. Nevertheless, 425 pieces of gold Stellas were struck as samples (allegedly as many as 725) and given to congressmen, which in their turn gave them out to their wives and mistresses as souvenirs and presents – at least that is what one of the numismatic legends says.
The $4 gold coin or Stella is considered to be a pattern – not a real coin, as it's never been issued for circulation. Yet as a rather significant number of coins for a pattern were produced, the Stella is usually listed in all coin reference books and catalogues even if they don't list patterns and some $4 gold coins have been auctioned more as coins than as patterns. A probability of finding a real $4 gold coin is extremely low, so if somebody is trying to convince you that it's a real Stella, pay extra head to what you're looking at. Most likely it would be a copy or a replica coin.
You can see some current listings for $4 gold coins below:
