Five Were Struck: America’s Finest 1879 Quintuple Stella
Five were struck. Four remain in private hands. One belongs to the Smithsonian.
Now the finest-certified example of the legendary 1879 Quintuple Stella will return to the auction block after 18 years away from the market.
Heritage Auctions will offer the coin as Lot 3604 in its 2026 ANA U.S. Coins Signature Auction. The 1879 $20 Liberty Head Quintuple Stella, Judd-1643, Pollock-1843, carries a grade of PCGS PR64+ Deep Cameo and traces its pedigree through Virgil Brand, Fred Olsen, Dr. John E. Wilkison, the Southern Collection, and Bob R. Simpson.
Heritage will call the lot during its Platinum Session on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at 4 p.m. Central Time. The full auction runs from August 31 through September 5.
Yet rarity alone does not explain this coin.
The Quintuple Stella represents something much larger. In 1879, the United States seriously considered a gold coin that could speak the financial language of Europe. Decades before anyone imagined the euro, American policymakers explored a standardized international coin based on metric weight.
The experiment failed.
The five surviving gold coins became numismatic royalty.
America Looks Toward an International Gold Coin
During the late 19th century, international commerce presented a practical problem. Nations used different monetary systems, different coin weights, and different standards.
American travelers and merchants could carry U.S. gold overseas. However, foreign transactions often required calculations, conversions, and sometimes reminting.
John A. Kasson, who served as U.S. Minister to Austria and had previously chaired the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, entered this debate in 1879.
Kasson promoted a U.S. gold coin that would exchange conveniently against major European denominations.
Heritage notes that he specifically discussed Austria’s eight-florin piece, then worth about $3.88.
For generations, numismatic writers credited Kasson with inspiring the Stella.
Research by Roger W. Burdette adds Another Layer
Burdette argues that inventor Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell supplied much of the actual momentum behind the program. Hubbell strongly promoted metric coinage and had already patented an alloy of gold, silver, and copper that he called goloid in 1877. The U.S. government experimented with Hubbell’s ideas in several pattern coin series.
The proposed $4 Stella closely approximated the international gold denomination Kasson envisioned.
Then came its spectacular five-times-larger companion.
The $20 Metric Double Eagle became what collectors now call the Quintuple Stella.
Why “Quintuple Stella”?
The nickname comes directly from the famous $4 Stella.
Hubbell’s proposed $4 coin carried a metric formula of six grams gold, 0.3 gram silver, and 0.7 gram copper, for a total weight of seven grams.
Multiply everything by five and the result becomes:
Specification 1879 Quintuple Stella
- Gold 30 grams
- Silver 1.5 grams
- Copper 3.5 grams
- Total weight 35 grams
- Face value $20
A contemporary government report described precisely that formula. It also noted that the new metric $20 would weigh about 24 grains more than the existing double eagle while retaining $20 in intrinsic value under the calculations of the period.
That point deserves clarification.
Collectors often encounter the term “goloid composition” in descriptions of the Quintuple Stella because Hubbell developed both concepts. However, his original 1877 goloid patent called for a very different gold-silver-copper ratio. The $20 pattern belongs more precisely to Hubbell’s later metric-gold proposal.
Moreover, Heritage notes that no published elemental analysis has conclusively established the exact metallic composition of every surviving Judd-1643.
One specimen offers important physical evidence. Before Superior sold the Ed Trompeter coin in 1992, the catalogers weighed it at 35.01 grams, almost exactly matching the intended 35-gram standard.
Five Coins…. and Then the Dies Disappeared
Here the story becomes extraordinary.
Burdette found documentation showing that the metric gold proposal reached the House of Representatives in January 1879.
Then, on February 4, Acting Mint Director Robert Preston acknowledged that the Philadelphia Mint had shipped three Metric Double Eagles for the House Committee on Coinage.
Burdette believes Mint personnel struck another two examples for the Mint Cabinet.
A later Preston letter removes much of the mystery surrounding the original production. On June 4, 1880, he reported that the Mint had made only five Metric Double Eagles. He also stated that the dies no longer existed, so the Mint could produce no additional examples.
James McClure’s 1887 Mint Collection pattern inventory recorded two Quintuple Stellas.
However, Louis Comparette’s 1912 catalog of the Mint Collection no longer listed any gold examples.
Eventually, all five entered collector channels.
Decades later, Stack’s returned one to public ownership when the firm donated an example to the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Four remain potentially available to private collectors.
Congress never adopted the coin.
The Quintuple Stella remained a pattern.
A Double Eagle That Announces Its Own Formula
At first glance, the Quintuple Stella resembles a familiar Liberty Head Double Eagle.
Look closer.
The obverse uses James B. Longacre’s Liberty Head concept, with J.B.L. on the truncation. However, Heritage notes that the die apparently did not originate from the regular Type Three hub. The usual diagonal die line extending from Liberty’s hair toward the left side of the letter Y does not appear.
More dramatically, the normal ring of stars gives way to a mathematical declaration:
★ 30 ★ G ★ 1.5 ★ S ★ 3.5 ★ C ★ 35 ★ G ★ R ★ A ★ M ★ S ★
The inscription effectively turns the coin into its own metallurgical specification sheet.
The date 1879 appears below Liberty.
The reverse closely follows the contemporary double eagle. An eagle carries a shield, while E PLURIBUS UNUM appears on the scroll. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the design and TWENTY DOLLARS identifies the denomination.
However, the familiar IN GOD WE TRUST does not appear.
Instead, stars and rays surround the Latin motto:
DEO EST GLORIA
The phrase conveys the sense of “To God is the glory.”
The finished pattern measures approximately 34 mm, the same diameter as a standard double eagle. Yet its intended 35-gram weight exceeds the regular double eagle’s 33.436 grams.
The Mint also struck the design in copper as Judd-1644. Researchers estimate that about a dozen examples survive, including several gilt pieces.
Collectors Wanted the Quintuple Stella Almost Immediately
The Quintuple Stella did not need decades to become famous.
One example went to Hubbell himself.
Philadelphia dealer John W. Haseltine offered that coin in his celebrated 1881 “Type Table” sale, only two years after the Mint produced it.
Haseltine already understood that he had something exceptional. His catalog described the coin as one of the world’s great rarities and placed a $300 limit on it.
However, his description also shows how incomplete contemporary information remained.
Haseltine stated that the Mint had made three gold examples and two copper pieces. We now know the five-piece census refers to the gold Judd-1643 issue. He also listed the coin’s weight as 25 grams, an obvious period catalog error against the 35-gram specification documented by the government and confirmed by the later weighing of the Trompeter example.
Haseltine also failed to recognize the two gold pieces then associated with the Mint Cabinet.
Nevertheless, collectors already understood the importance of the design.
By the early 20th century, all five had settled into major collections.
And those owners represented some of the biggest names numismatics has ever produced.
From Virgil Brand to Bob Simpson
The specimen now heading to Heritage belonged to Virgil M. Brand, whose enormous cabinet ultimately contained more than 350,000 pieces.
Brand did not own just one Quintuple Stella.
His records show that he purchased one from Charles Steigerwalt in 1894 for $100. Then, in 1907, he acquired two more from Stephen Nagy for $150 each.
Unfortunately, the records do not allow researchers to determine which of those three acquisitions became the present coin.
Brand’s estate only adds to the difficulty. His heirs divided his enormous collection through a complicated process, and the final dispersal stretched across more than half a century.
The present coin finally entered the public auction record with certainty in November 1944.
A $3,850 Coin in 1944
B. Max Mehl offered the piece as Lot 624 of the Fred Olsen Collection.
Mehl devoted an entire page to it.
He called the pattern a brilliant proof and emphasized both its beauty and exceptional rarity. Using the numismatic knowledge available at the time, he cited the older Adams-Woodin classification as No. 1572, Rarity 13.
Mehl also emphasized the 35-gram metric system, its orange-gold appearance, and its greater weight compared with a conventional double eagle.
The coin brought $3,850.
That represented an enormous numismatic price in 1944.
The pedigree then passed through Dr. John E. Wilkison, one of the great specialists in U.S. gold patterns. Paramount International Coin Corporation purchased Wilkison’s collection intact in 1973. Contemporary records also confirm the Wilkison-Paramount connection and the earlier $3,850 Olsen purchase.
The coin later passed through A-Mark, appeared in New England Rare Coin Auctions’ Metropolitan New York Sale in April 1980 as Lot 391, and returned at Stack’s 65th Anniversary Sale in October 2000 as Lot 1626.
It eventually entered the Southern Collection.
Then came Bob Simpson.
The $36 Million Pattern Deal
In 2008, Texas businessman and Texas Rangers co-owner Bob R. Simpson reportedly purchased the Southern Collection for approximately $36 million.
The deal placed one of America’s greatest pattern collections inside an already extraordinary numismatic cabinet.
The PR64+ Deep Cameo Quintuple Stella came with it.
Simpson had previously owned another example of Judd-1643. Yet after acquiring this higher-graded specimen, he regarded the Plus-graded coin as superior and eventually sold the duplicate.
As a result, the present Quintuple Stella has remained away from the auction block for 18 years.
The Finest-Certified 1879 Quintuple Stella
PCGS grades the Simpson specimen PR64+ Deep Cameo.
Heritage describes sharply rendered design details set against deeply mirrored fields. Heavy frost covers the devices and creates dramatic contrast when light moves across the coin.
Yellow and orange-gold dominate the surfaces.
Minor field hairlines account for the grade, according to Heritage. Otherwise, the surfaces show remarkably few distractions for a 147-year-old experimental gold coin.
As of the June 2026 PCGS population report cited by Heritage, PCGS recorded two PR64 Deep Cameo certifications, including one PR64+, with none finer.
Those population figures require context. Resubmissions and certification history can inflate grading-service totals. The documented physical census remains five coins, not the sum of every certification entry.
Heritage identifies this specimen as the finest-certified Judd-1643. PCGS also illustrates the coin through CoinFacts.
A $2.16 Million Benchmark
The market already has a recent benchmark.
In August 2025, Heritage sold another 1879 Quintuple Stella graded PCGS PR64 Deep Cameo for $2,160,000.
That coin had previously sold for $1,880,000 in Legend’s May 2016 Regency Auction.
In other words, the same specimen broke its own auction record nine years later.
That 2025 coin also once belonged to Simpson. He sold it after acquiring the PR64+ Deep Cameo example Heritage now offers.
The coming auction therefore presents a fascinating test.
The existing $2.16 million record belongs to the second-ranked Deep Cameo specimen.
Now the finer Simpson coin gets its turn.
The Five Known Gold Quintuple Stellas
Heritage’s census, based on USPatterns research, accounts for all five Judd-1643 examples. Historical pedigrees still contain a few uncertain links, particularly among the Brand coins.
PCGS PR64+ Deep Cameo – Present coin Virgil M. Brand; unknown intermediaries. Stack’s 65th Anniversary Sale, October 2000, Lot 1626; Southern Collection; Bob R. Simpson Collection. The coin appears on USPatterns.com and in Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins: 1795-1933.
PCGS PR64 Deep Cameo Virgil Brand; unknown intermediaries; Heritage inventory, 1999; Bob Simpson; Legend Regency Auction, May 2016, Lot 377, $1,880,000; Costa Collection through Greg Rohan and Todd Imhof; Heritage ANA, August 2025, Lot 3299, $2,160,000.
PCGS PR64 Cameo Harlan Page Smith Collection; S.H. and H. Chapman, May 1906, Lot 1444; John Story Jenks; Henry Chapman, November 1921, Lot 5680; Elmer Sears, possibly acting for John H. Clapp; Clapp; Clapp Estate; Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr., through Stack’s in 1942; Eliasberg Estate; Bowers and Merena Eliasberg Part I, May 1996, Lot 313; Bowers and Merena Chicago Rarities Night, April 2008, Lot 734.
PCGS PR63 Cameo United States Mint; William Wheeler Hubbell; John W. Haseltine; Haseltine “Type Table,” November 1881, Lot 1490; Hebbeard Collection, Harlan Page Smith, April 1883, Lot 458; … Ed Trompeter; Superior Moreira Collection, January 1989, Lot 4026; Heritage FUN 2007, Lot 1594, $862,500; Heritage FUN 2022, Lot 4793.
Proof, uncertified – Smithsonian Institution Virgil Brand; unknown intermediaries; Adolphe Menjou Collection, Numismatic Gallery, June 1950, Lot 1818; King Farouk; Sotheby’s Palace Collections of Egypt, February 1954, Lot 294; Abe Kosoff ANA Convention Auction, August 1958, Lot 1676; Stack’s Auction ’79, July 1979, Lot 950; Stack’s; donated to the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection.
Unlinked Older Records
Several old records may describe those same five coins under uncertain pedigrees. Waldo Newcomer and Col. E.H.R. Green appear in one chain, and B.G. Johnson offered a specimen to F.C.C. Boyd for $1,250 in January 1944. Researchers believe that coin probably became the Smithsonian specimen, but they cannot prove the connection.
Brand’s 1894 Steigerwalt purchase carried journal number 12582. Armin Brand later sold that coin to B.G. Johnson on December 1, 1937.
The Robert Coulton Davis sale of January 1890 also contained a Quintuple Stella as Lot 1127.
Brand’s two 1907 purchases from Stephen Nagy carried journal numbers 38942 and 38943. One later went to Horace Brand. The other had already left the collection by the time the Brand brothers divided their inheritance.
Those unresolved connections explain why numismatists can account for five physical coins while still debating portions of their early ownership histories.
1879 Quintuple Stella Specifications
- Date: 1879
- Denomination: Pattern $20 / Metric Double Eagle
- Nickname: Quintuple Stella
- Judd number: Judd-1643
- Pollock number:Pollock-1843
- Rarity Low: R.7
- Mint: Philadelphia
- Strike: Proof
- PCGS grade of auction coin: PR64+ Deep Cameo
- Designer attribution: James B. Longacre Liberty Head; J.B.L. initials on truncation
- Diameter Approximately: 34 mm
- Intended weight: 35 grams
- Formula stated by design/government proposal: 30 g gold, 1.5 g silver, 3.5 g copper
- Edge: Reeded
- Known gold examples: Five
- Privately held examples: Four
- Smithsonian examples: One
- PCGS number: 537318
- Greysheet ID: 373253
Why the 1879 Quintuple Stella Matters
Many great American rarities became famous because the Mint struck too few coins.
The Quintuple Stella tells a different story.
The Mint never intended it as a conventional rarity. It served as a physical argument about what American money might become.
Its designers tried to combine American gold with metric weights, European monetary realities, international commerce, and an experimental three-metal alloy. Even the obverse reads almost like a laboratory label.
Then Congress walked away.
Only five gold examples remained to document the experiment.
Since then, those five coins have moved through collections assembled by Brand, Garrett, Eliasberg, Farouk, Carter, Trompeter, Wilkison, and Simpson.
That history separates the Quintuple Stella from a merely rare pattern.
It represents an alternate path for the American monetary system.
For a brief moment in 1879, the United States considered putting a 35-gram international $20 gold coin into the hands of merchants and travelers.
It never happened.
What survived became one of the great trophies of American numismatics.
Heritage will now offer the finest-certified survivor.
And with the second-finest example already holding a $2.16 million auction record, the September 2 sale could provide one of the defining U.S. pattern results of 2026.
