4 Dollars '1880 Stella' Pattern, gold

The Stella was the brainchild of Congressman John Kasson, who championed a universal coinage that would trade at par with the French 20-franc piece, the Italian 20-lira, and other metric gold coins circulating across Europe. Congress never authorized it for general issue, and the pattern was struck in 1879 and 1880 purely to demonstrate the concept to legislators — most of whom remained unconvinced.

Two competing designs were produced across both years, by Charles Barber and George Morgan respectively. The Flowing Hair type by Morgan is considerably scarcer in 1880, with surviving population figures suggesting fewer than a dozen genuine examples.