The Trade Dollar is a United States silver dollar weighing 420 grains .900 fine and issued 1873-85 for use in east Asian trade.
The Trade Dollar was made specifically for trade overseas with the China, Korea, and Japan.
Countries like Great Britain, Spain, France and other Western powers were circulatiing very large silver coins in Asia,
and China even refused to accept any foreign silver coins other than the Large Mexican Pesos.
In response to this, the U.S. issued a coin of equal weight for trade purposes in order to be more competitive overseas.
The silver content of Trade Dollars was slightly higher than the Seated Liberty and Morgan Dollar, which was currently in circulation at the time.
Trade Dollars are currently highly collectible. Those which have chopmarks or counterstamps received in the Orient are worth less than Trade Dollars without these marks.
The U.S. Trade Dollar was officially ended in 1887 and all outstanding Trade Dollars were returned and redeemed by the U.S. Treasury.
Some Trade Dollar Coins of the U.S. were; the Seated Liberty Dollar (1853-1873), The Trade Dollar (1873-1885), And The American Silver Eagle (1986 -Date).
The Trade Dollar was initially known as The "Commercial dollar." In addition, John Jay Knox, Deputy Comptroller of Currency had filed a report with the idea of a Commercial dollar to encourage the international trade of U.S. mined silver. in 1982 during modification of the United States Code, when all coins were declared legal tender with no particular regard to their status prior to recodification.
The Trade Dollar was never meant to be legal U.S. tender and was not circulated in the United States.
In 1982, all coins were declared legal tender with no particular regard to their status prior to recodification.
U.S. Mint Engraver William Barber designed the Trade Dollar. It depicts a figure of Liberty facing left (towards China), sitting on a bale of cotton, holding an olive branch in her right hand towards the sea, wearing a beaded coronet and holding a ribbon with motto liberty. There is a sheaf of wheat behind her and 13 stars in the field. On the other side is an eagle with outstretched wings holding three arrows in the right claw and an olive branch in the left claw.
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