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Centennial Gold and Silver Coins
Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica
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Denver, Colorado 80246
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The
United States four dollar coin, also officially
called a Stella, is a unit of currency equaling four
United States dollars.
The Stella was a
pattern coin produced to explore the possibility of
joining the Latin Monetary Union; 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.
Two different designs obverse were produced, both
bearing the same inscription
★6★G★.3★S★.7★C★7★G★R★A★M★S★ ("★" is a Unicode
character that should be a five-pointed star) 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
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 these
ended up as jewelry pieces adorning the necks of
madams operating some of Washington's most famous
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. |