Owner Comments:
When I was a young lad, I spent countless hours thumbing through the Redbook of United States Coins dreaming of the coins I wanted to collect. Two of many coins I dreamed of owning were the type 1 and type 2 $4 gold Stellas (Stella is the Latin word for star). Endearing me to both of these coins is the fact that they are an oddity, struck in gold, and are rare. The fact that they are also expensive to own did not deter me from dreaming but realistically, owning just one of these gems, let alone both coins is never likely to happen.
Several years ago, I considered buying Stella copies to supplement my gold type collection. After all what other alternatives were there other than purchasing the real thing. This was until I discovered suitable substitutes from Liberia representing both coin types that were most importantly, affordable. With that, I purchased both coins for my collection.
The Republic of Liberia issues several coins as tributes to famous and rare United States pattern coins. Among them are the type 1 and type 2 Stellas. The obverses of both coins are reminiscent of the original type 1 Stella designed by Charles Barber, and the type 2 designed by George T Morgan. The common reverse has a similar 5 point star, or Stella with the inscription, 1 Stella/4000 Cents. The Latin motto Deo Est Gloria (God is Glorious) is the same as the original $4 Stella and the face value of the Liberian coins is $40 rather than $4. The obverse lettering is very much like that of the original $4 Stella and has the coins weight and fineness delimited by thirteen stars. These two Liberian gold coins issued in 2002 are graded by PCGS at PR-69 DCAM and weighs 7.78 grams or .25 ounces AGW with a fineness of .999. The Liberian type 1 coin has a mintage of 410, and the type 2 has a mintage of 380. Needless to say, I am quite pleased with both these alternatives.
The 1879 and 1880, Type 1 and Type 2 $4 Stellas have an interesting and somewhat scandalous story. In 1879, Congressman John Kasson introduced to Congress a new goloid composition $4 coin as an international coin that would trade equally with the French 20 franc coin, the Spanish 20 pesetas, the Dutch and Austrian 8 florins, and the Italian 20 lire. Several hundred of these pattern coins or Stellas circulated among the members of Congress. However, the Stella was a solution in search of a problem and never became a regular issue coin as Congress was content to allow the Double-Eagle to serve as a medium of exchange in Europe.
During the early 1880s, madams operating from Washingtons most popular brothels were seen wearing Stellas as jewelry. Just how the madams acquired those Stellas I will leave that up to you to figure out. On the surface though, it would seem that some things never change and that there is nothing new under the sun just as the writer of Ecclesiastes states.
In summary, neither of these coins currently appears in any of my registry sets, but nonetheless, are integral pieces in my collection. I know these coins are a far cry from the real thing, but you must admit they are as close as you can get without owning the real thing. My favorite coin of the two is the type 2.