AboutPAPAJACK Expertise Knowledge of United States Coins from 1793 to date. Able to answer most common numismatic questions. Collected U.S. Coins from half cent to 50 dollar gold coins.
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Question I have a Trade Dollar that my Grandfather brought back from China after the Boxer Rebellion and the story goes that all of them were supposed to have been melted.
I have had this coin over 60 years and have never found a dealer or anyone who knew anything about it.
It is all in Chinese except for:420 Grains. TRADE DOLLAR. 900 Fine. The other side is all Oriental designs.
Any info. you might furnish would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wm. L. Kennedy, Sr.
Answer Hello William,
Your library should have material on them. The United States Trade Dollar by John M. Willem is one book.
Many of them were indeed melted as they were redeemed here in the USA. Just as your coin would have been melted if you turned it in to the Federal Reserve Bank. Others circulated there and were traded with other countries by the Orient.
These coins were produced by the U.S. from 1873 to 1878 for trade in the Orient to compete with other countries coins being used there. They are heavier than the normal US dollar was and contained more silver (.7874 oz). They were produces in a much more limited issue from 1879 to 1885 for coin collectors.
Many of the coins that circulated there were counter stamped with Oriental characters called Chop=Marks. They are valued lower than a non-chop marked coin by most collectors.
Every time a vendor assayed the coin they would use their mark to signify it had the proper weight and purity for the transaction. Yours must have been circulated there a longer time if it has the face obliterated.
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