This is the George T. Morgan design for the four-dollar gold Stella, with a head of Liberty facing left on the obverse, her hair braided and coiled at the back of her head. On the pieces designed by Charles E. Barber, an example of which is offered above, Liberty's hair is long and flowing. The 1879 Coiled Hair Stella is a major numismatic rarity — far rarer than its 1879 Flowing Hair counterpart — with examples seldom encountered in today's market. This type was prepared in only limited numbers, and only 12 to 15 gold impressions (Judd-1638) are believed extant. The copper strikings are equally as rare with the website uspatterns.com providing an estimate of "about a dozen known." Of the six specimens specifically traced in the 1994 reference United States Patterns and Related Issues by Andy Pollock, all but one have been gilt to simulate the gold strikings.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the May 2013 New Orleans ANA Auction, where it realized $646,250.