You can actually find them on a lot more than that. There are even circulating US half dollars that got chop marks.
I would love to own a regular business strike coin that has been chopmarked. I never seen one but do have a couple of Trade Dollars and some Reals with chopmarks. So then it seems a chopmark is a symbol unique to that port or merchant. Rather like a cattle ranchers brand. Actually seems like a reasonably good system to foil the forgers of the day.
I’d love to own one too. I’ve seen very few in my years of collecting, but they’re out there. And yes, it was a great system to foil forgers and the penalty for forgeries were pretty steep!
It just occurred to me that @Heavymetal posted this in the What’s It Worth” section and I don’t see any replies that address a value. Were you looking for a value estimate OP?
I admit to purposefully avoiding the OP’s question, because there’s something wrong with this coin. Look how detailed the stars are, then look at these close ups. The wear doesn’t match. PCGS VF35 for comparison.
The owner won’t be too pleased to hear that. Looks like my future offer will be about $5. I know a lot of the counterfeits were made with melted 50% British silver so are 2-3 grams underweight. I’ll see it again in Florida next winter
Couldn't it just have been mounted? That would account for central wear, however, you also have to account for die rotation when you look at stars. You can have some with almost no wear while others have little detail due to weakness depending on where in the legend they oppose on the reverse.
I think you’re into something with mounting. @TypeCoin971793 any thoughts on the wear being so off with this coin? Ignoring the chop marks, this looks like a problem coin. Edit: I personally love chop marks. It’s added history to a coin. My only trade dollar is chopped to death.
When the chop marks are applied, the design on the other side of the coin gets crushed, resulting in rough flat areas. I see nothing wrong here.
Great point. This one has several chop marks on both sides, which could explain the wear through the center.
Usually they don’t, but I have seen older ANACS graded Trade dollars with chop marks which received a straight grade.
Yes, it’s part of their history, but a chop mark is still damage. Personally, I prefer them problem-free and in a decent grade.
Yes Randy, I posted in ‘What’s it Worth’ since I want to make a fair offer. Coin is now owned by my wife’s cousin. Obtained from a dealer in Buffalo
I would be between $100-200, with an effort to be closer to $100. They’ve sold on eBay from between $125-250. This one shows more wear and damage than I’m used to seeing. Looking at graded XF chop marked trade dollars that had much less wear and sold for under $250, I would suggest not being over eager.
PCGS and NGC have recently been giving straight grades to all (otherwise) problem-free trade dollars with chop marks I actually prefer them with chop marks, which proves that they circulated with their intended purpose. Far more interesting and rich story than a pristine one which probably never left the US.