1879 $20 J-1643, CAM (Proof)
Series: Patterns - PR
PCGS PR64CAM
PCGS PR63CAM
- PCGS #:
- 862022
- Designer:
- James Barton Longacre
- Edge:
- Reeded
- Diameter:
- 34.00 millimeters
- Weight:
- 35.00 grams
- Mintage:
- N/A
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- 86% Gold, 4% Silver, 10% Copper
- Auction Record:
- N/A
Condition Census What Is This?
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#1 PCGS PR64CAM
As "Brilliant Proof." "The Harlan Page Smith Collection," Samuel Hudson & Henry Chapman, May 11, 1906, Lot 1444 - $150. As "Brilliant Proof, obverse very slightly hairmarked." "The John Story Jenks Collection," Henry Chapman, November 1921, Lot 5680; Elmer Sears: John H. Clapp; Clapp Estate; Clapp Collection sold en bloc via Stacks to Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., 1942; Eliasberg Estate. As "Proof 62/63." "The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, Part I," Bowers and Merena, May 1996, Lot 313 - $214,500. As NGC PF64. Bowers and Merena, April 15, 2008, Lot 734. As PCGS PR64CAM #26741994. |
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#2 PCGS PR63CAM
Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell; John W. Haseltine; "Catalogue of John W. Haseltine's Type Table of U.S. Dollars, Half Dollars, & Quarter Dollars...," John W. Haseltine, November 30, 1881, Lot 1490 - Passed; "The Hebbeard Collection," Harlan Page Smith, April 24, 1883, Lot 458 - $110; "The Dr. Edward Maris Collection," Harlan Page Smith, June 21, 1886, Lot 230 - $110; T. Harrison Garrett, 1888; Robert and John Work Garrett, 1919; John Work Garrett; John Work Garrett Estate; Johns Hopkins University, by bequest. As "Brilliant Proof." "The Garrett Collection, Part II," Bowers and Ruddy, March 26, 1980, Lot 1097 - $90,000; Ed Trompeter; "The Moreira Collection," Superior Galleries, January 30, 1989, Lot 4026 - $170,500. As PCGS PR62 #07427228. "The Jones Beach Collection," Heritage Auctions, January 2007, Lot 1594 - $862,500. As PCGS PR63CAM #84358023. Heritage Auctions, January 2022, Lot 4793 - $2,000,000 Reserve Not Met. |
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#3 Proof CAM
Virgil M. Brand; unknown intermediaries; "The Adolphe Menjou Collection," Numismatic Gallery, June 17, 1950, Lot 1818 - $3,400; King Farouk; "The Palace Collections of Egypt (Farouk)," Sotheby's, February 24, 1954, Lot 294 - $900; Abe Kosoff, August 19, 1958, Lot 1676; "Auction '79," Stack's, July 26, 1979, Lot 950 $100,000; Stack's; gifted to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. This coin and its opper-gilt counterpart (Judd-1644) were offered as separate lots at the 1958 Kosoff and sold together in custom lucite holder at the 1979 Stack's sale. |
The 1879 "Quintuple Stella," J-1643
The Quintuple Stella (J-1643, PCGS #862022) is a pattern coin struck by the United States Mint during a multi-year experiment to determine the viability of adopting metric coinage for international and domestic trade. These tests were carried out at the urging of Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell, a Philadelphia-born patent attorney and inventor. Hubbell advocated for the adoption of his patented alloys, specifically "goloid" (a silver-heavy blend) and "metric gold," which he urged Congress to adopt.
Hubbell had big dreams for his new alloys, but they were misplaced. Europe, which had adopted the Latin Monetary Union standard in 1865, followed a strict bimetallic system based on the French franc; Hubbell’s blended-metal coins would not have worked within this framework. Domestically, Hubbell saw his alloys as a salve for the negative consequences of the Coinage Act of 1873. Because the metals were difficult to part, he believed the coins would be less susceptible to the fluctuations of the bullion market. Unfortunately for Hubbell, he frequently complained that the Mint failed to faithfully recreate the alloys to his exact specifications, and the project ultimately failed to win Congressional support due to the severe counterfeiting risks the blended metals presented.
Despite its ultimate failure, the metric gold plan initially won the enthusiastic endorsement of the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, headed by Alexander Stephens of Georgia. While Hubbell’s metric coinage proved to be a doomed cause, it was certainly not the most infamous one Stephens had supported; prior to returning to Congress, he had served as the Vice President of the Confederate States of America.
The inscription found on the Quintuple Stella reveals the anticipated composition. The 35 gram gold coin was to be composed of 30 grams of gold, 1.5 grams of silver, and 3.5 grams of copper. In their official report, the committee praised the new alloy's striking properties and "rich orange color," noting its "superiority for practical use, as it flows with a sharper and more distinct finish into the dies." Hubbell further promoted the coin as being superior to standard gold for its metric weight, superior ring, resiliency to wear, and immunity to value loss during international exchange. Believing Latin was a better international language than English, Hubbell instructed that IN GOD WE TRUST be replaced with the motto DEO EST GLORIA ("God is the Glory") on the reverse.
For the obverse, existing double eagle hubs were used, with a new composition inscription punched around the border. The initial die erroneously read 35 C for the copper weight, but the missing decimal point was quickly corrected to 3.5 C for the Judd-1643 and Judd-1644 strikings (#62023).
The Mint employed various processes to prepare the planchets for production, ensuring it would not face further criticism from Hubbell. The visual results were striking; in April 1879, the American Journal of Numismatics noted that the new pattern was "said to be one of the most beautiful coins ever executed." This is an interesting sentiment, considering the design is simply a rehash of the circulating Longacre Liberty Head Double Eagle.
The Quintuple Stella is forever linked to the four-dollar gold pattern, the Stella. The Stella was struck in limited numbers across two styles in 1879 and 1880 before it, too, was abandoned. For the $20 pattern, official records indicate that just three pieces were struck in February 1879. Today, however, five examples are known: four remain in private hands, and one resides in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution.
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