 1879 Flowing Hair. Brilliant Proof. Bright gold surfaces show the micro-fine planchet striae that typify nearly all known examples of these rare $4 pieces. The locks of hair over the ear of Engraver Charles E. Barber's Flowing Hair Liberty and the 'C' of CENTS on the rounded shoulder of the reverse star are weakly defined as are many fine details on other 19th century Patterns.
The obverse legend presents a breakdown of the proposed denomination's metallic content separated by stars, 6 G(old), .3 S(ilver), .7 C(opper, 7 GRAMS. The reverse star presents the denomination in two forms, ONE STELLA - 400 CENTS, with a Latin motto SOLI DEO GLORIA, To God is the Glory. The Stella is not a regular circulating coin but a Pattern (Judd 1635) designed as an international trade coin comparable to the Gold 20 Franc unit of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU). It was the project of U.S. Minister to Austria John Kasson of Iowa, former Congressman and member of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures. He believed the Stella would be interchangeable with the Austrian, Belgian, French, Greek, Italian and Swiss Gold coins issued on the LMU standard, facilitating trade and easing travelers' foreign exchange problems. The Stella was never implemented but the few actually struck to demonstrate the concept have been eagerly sought by collectors for 126 years.
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