Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-07
THE FoUR-DoLLAR GOLD PIECE
Facts About Its Coinage a Quarter OF
a Century Ago.

ScAtuLy 06V'
e. B. Finley in the Milwaukee Sentinel.
In the Cincinnati Enquirer Of April Z
appears a clipping from your paper, with
headline reading: Unique Coin is the
Stella the only Four-Dollar Gold Piece in
the World. in which you say that "a
gold coin which is probably the only one
of its kind in existence iss on exhibition at
the Germania National Bank" at your
city. and that it is valued by the bank
officials at $500; that it is of the diameter
of s. gold piece. but thinner; that on it's
face is the well-known Liberty head, with
out the cap, and around this are thirteen
stars interspersed with the letters "6 G 8 8
Grams" and you say the exact
meaning Of these letters none of the bank
officials have ascertained; that on the re-
verse side of the coin is five-pointed star,
in which is cut the inscription, "One Stella
-4OO cents, around which are the words
"E Pluribus Unum Dec Est Gloria" and
around these, forming the rim on this side
OF the coin, are the words, United States
OF America, Four Dol"
You further say that about fifteen years
ago this coin was sent to Washington by
the Merchants Exchange Bank of your
city. but that the only information obtained
was that the coin was genuine. / have one
of these coins in my possession and two
others, part gold and part silver coins,
minted at the same time. On the face of
the smaller one of these coins is the Liberty
head with the cap and the year 1879, to-
gether with thirteen stars and the words:
"E Pluribus Uunm." On the reverse side 1t
reads: United States of America. Goloid
Metric Dollar. 153-G. 1867 s. CSC IA
Grams" and below it, Dec Est Gloria.
One Hundred Cents The larger one has
the same face and inscription, and on the
reverse side the same the smaller one.
with the exception that IT. reads: "S95.8-S.
4.2-G. 1O0-C 25 Grams and the words: "One
Dollar
g ~
which puzzled your bank officials. stand
for gold 3. and silver and copper 7, and
am able to give you the history of the mint
ing of these several coins by the United
States
They were minted, as the coins show, in
1879 at which time was in Congress, from
Ohio, and Alexander H. Stephens, vice
president of the confederacy, was chairman
of the committee on coinage, weights ana
measures.
Mr. Stephens introduced from the commit
tee bill to change our coinage from the
present to the metric system, corresponding
with the French system, as l recollect 1t,
as indicated by these coins. and thereupon
Congress passed an act that limited num-
Der of sets of these coins should be m1nteo
for the use of each member OF the commit
tee the President and his cabinet, and pos
sibly for each member of Congress and the
Senate, but about that am not sure. The
bill changing the coinage failed to become
law, and though it received considerable con-
S1Qerat1On by SOHS ItSS. anu L diil VI Lay
preston that Alexander H. Stephens dellv-
cred a speech on the subject, which was eX-
tensively published at the time, yet in the
short period of twenty-five years the whole
subject has become SO lost and forgotten by
the public that one of the coins found and
on exhibition in one of your banks is spec
uated upon by the press as much as the
discovery of hidden coin of the old Roman
empire and according to what you say,
even the officials at Washington know moth
ing about it, Sc Transit Gloria Mundi.'