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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,562 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1283 Posts |
1: In the RedBook it reads, "This coin was issued for ciculation in Asia to compete with dollar-sized coins of other countries." But the Trade dollar immediately followed the Seated Liberty dollar in 1873. And according to RedBook both the Seated Lib and the Trade dollar are 38.1 mm in diameter. So what about the Trade dollar made them specifically for trade in Asia? 2: They are often counterstamped with Asian symbols, what is the purpose of this counterstamping? 3: Do the counterstamps affect the value for better or worse? I'm actually thinking about picking up a nice counterstamped example. |
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Valued Member
United States
220 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
The Trade dollar differed from regular dollars in the weight of the silver. Regular silver dollars were .77344 oz and were shunned in the orient where the coin of choice was either an old colonial Spanish 8 reales @ .7858 oz of silver or a mexican resplandores 8 reale @ .7859 oz. US merchants had to pay fees to money exchange houses to convert US dollars into "Reales" in order to do business with the orient. The Trade dollar was meant to fix that problem and was produced at .7874 oz silver. It should have worked, it was great idea but the Spanish and Mexican coins had a 141 year history and the oriental merchants weren't looking to change. Changes in the value of silver resulted in them being de-monetized here in the US and for a period of time they could be redeemed for a US dollar coin. After that they were not considered "legal tender" in the US. Several countries tried to produce their own dollar size coin for international use but no one matched the success of the Spanish and Mexican coins. As for "chopmarks", some people collect them, some people love them and some people feel the coin is damaged. I personally collect them and find them historically fascinating. Chopmarks are believed to be private merchant marks applied to coins that passed through a merchants hands and were considered of "full value" |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1283 Posts |
Thank you, ifransch. Very informative. I really want a nice, common stamped example. I just don't know how to price them. Do the chop marks generally add or subtract value? Are they priced the same?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
Chopmarks on a US Trade dollar will generally drop the value. The bigger issue with all US Trade dollars is the tremendous number of fakes, both with and without chopmarks. I have seen fakes that fooled the best dealers and there are fakes in real PCGS/NGC holders that fooled the TPG experts, as well as fakes in fake PCGS and NGC holders. Just be very careful, or better yet, buy a verified third party graded/authenticated one from reputable dealer. They are beautiful coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1691 Posts |
jfransch coverd all the bases...good luck!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
one note on these Trade dollars, they are the most copied coin known (as far as I know) and they even copy the chop marks as well so just because it has chop marks doesn't mean its an original piece so if you are in the market for one of these be sure you get one from a trustworthy place or one graded by a top TPG (PCGS grades Trade dollars with chop marks) but then you also have to be sure the slab is real as well |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
615 Posts |
How can you tell the slab is real?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
Quote:
How can you tell the slab is real? that is where you have to do your research. there are some markers missing on the fake PCGS slabs like the 4 points they are sonically sealed and the "L" shaped things on the slabs that allow them to be stacked together, you just have to check out the slab good if you are unsure just walk away and buy from someone reputable |
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Moderator
 Australia
16826 Posts |
Quote:
As for "chopmarks", some people collect them, some people love them and some people feel the coin is damaged. I personally collect them and find them historically fascinating. Chopmarks are believed to be private merchant marks applied to coins that passed through a merchants hands and were considered of "full value" Correct. Chop marks are private countermarks, not really any different to the coins countermarked with merchant's names, except that it occurred in China, and in China the practice of putting private or personal marks on silver coins was quite widespread. A chop mark served two functions. It allowed the merchant to test for a plated silver coin (if a plated fake was chopped, the chop would punch through the surface silver layer and reveal the non-silver core) and it pronounced to all your neighbours and customers that you personally believe that that coin is a genuine, full-weight dollar. Other members of the community who knew of your excellent reputation would recognize your mark and accept your word. If, however, the coin left your community, or your reputation was perhaps not so excellent, then the next recipient of the coin would also test it by placing their chop mark on it. I'll accept one or two discreetly-placed chop marks on a coin likely to have circulated in China in the 1800's, without reducing the value, but I wouldn't pay extra just for chopmarks. A large ugly mark, or a coin with so many marks you can't see the underlying coin clearly anymore, will get a reduced value from me. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,562 |
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Posted 12/12/2009 5:10 pm
