Metric & Stella Patterns (1874-1879)

About This Series

Reflecting the international movement toward monetary standardization, these patterns represent the Mint's most ambitious experiments with metric-based denominations. The metric patterns of 1874-1876, under Director Henry Linderman, proposed denominations in grams — including a 25-gram metric dollar — that would have aligned American coinage with the Latin Monetary Union system. The Stella ($4 gold) patterns of 1879-1880 took a different approach: rather than metric weights, the coin was calibrated at 7 grams to match multiple European trade coins simultaneously. Charles Barber's Flowing Hair and George Morgan's Coiled Hair Stella designs created some of the most beautiful and valuable American patterns, with the 1880 Coiled Hair ranking among the rarest U.S. coins. Cataloged in the Judd reference system, these pieces document a moment when American monetary policy could have taken a radically different direction. Congress rejected both metric coinage and the universal trade coin concept, but surviving patterns preserve the evidence of that internationalist aspiration in metallic form.