The US Gold $4 Stella Coin! An Extremely Rare and Beautiful Coin!

There are several "white whale" coins that I have dreamed of owning over the years, near the top of that list is the Stella. Most people are unaware that the US once made a four dollar gold coin, and there is a good reason for that. The Stella is technically a pattern coin that was never produced for circulation, but was produced as an exploratory move to potentially join the Latin Monetary Union (LMU).

The Latin Monetary Union was a treaty signed by France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium in 1865. The goal was to produce coinage in participating countries that met one standard so they could be freely exchanged and everyone would know exactly what the coins were worth. All coins would meet purity and weight standards set according to the French gold franc introduced by none other that Napoleon. The standard set for the French 20 franc coin was a gold purity of 0.9 and 5.81 grams of gold. The LMU lasted until it was disbanded in 1927.

The Stella was produced in 1879 and 1880 with coiled hair and flowing hair variants. But unlike the French franc it was produced with 0.857 gold purity and 6 grams of gold. Ultimately congress rejected the idea of joining the LMU so the coin never actually went into production. But before this happened several hundred had already been struck of the flowing hair variety and were sold to congressmen at the cost of production. Talk about a serious congressional perk! This caused a scandal as many of these coins could later be found in jewelry hanging around the necks of prominent madams who ran bordellos in Washington DC. Government scandals were as much a problem then as they are now....

photo: Heritage Auctions, HA.com

This particular coin is a proof coiled hair version that sold at auction in 2013 for $2,570,000 US.

photo: Wikipedia

About the coins:
Mint: Philadelphia
Composition: 85.7% gold/ 4.3% silver/ 10% copper
Weight: 7 grams
Diameter: 22 mm
Edge: reeded
Design: Obverse flowing hair Charles Barber and coiled hair George Morgan, Reverse Charles Barber
Inscriptions: Obverse: ★6★G★.3★S★.7★C★7★G★R★A★M★S★ indicating purity and weight Reverse: E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one) and DEO EST GLORIA (To God is the glory)

Unfortunately this coins will likely stay on my list unless I suddenly win the lottery. That's not too likely to happen because I don't waste money on lottery tickets! I hoped you enjoyed learning about the US $4 dollar gold coin, and have a great day!

Just a note I am using Peakd for now until I can figure out how to make the Leo Alpha work with my photos.

And my disclaimer: Gold and silver stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.

References:
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_(United_States_coin)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_Monetary_Union