1879 $4 Gold Stella, Flowing Hair, Deep Cameo, PCGS
PCGS PF64 DCAM

Brainchild of the Honorable John A. Kasson, the $4 Stella was conceived to facilitate international trade and travel by Americans. Kasson traveled extensively abroad and understood the expensive difficulties related to exchanging U.S. coinage for foreign coinage. A novel idea ahead of its time, the $4 Stella was soon deemed to be impractical as the intended currencies to be exchanged were not exact equals and varied against one another as time passed. Officially, the Stella (so named for the five-point star on the reverse) is a pattern and no mintage was ever authorized. Unofficially, the $4 gold piece is considered part of United States coinage and is listed in the Red Book after the $3 gold piece issues. The official mintage figures indicate 425 proof examples were produced in 1879 with most of them being given to Congressmen for review. The story goes that in turn the Congressmen gave the coins to their wives and mistresses as novelty gifts which could explain the large number of ex-jewelry pieces evident today. Whether this story is true is irrelevant as it is now numismatic legend and only adds to the allure the Stella holds for even the most novice of collectors or dealers! Our piece has been tucked away for a number of years in a private holding and is quite spectacular!

$215,000