Trade Dollar with Oriental Marks

I recently went to an auction and got a couple of trade dollars. This one was sold as an 1877-S trade dollar with Oriental Marks. It didn't have much interest, however, and I was able to get it for $30. Can anyone tell me what these marks mean? And does it add to the value or take away from it?

 

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Those are not chop marks. They are graffiti and they dramatically reduce the value of your coin (assuming, of course, the coin is genuine).

 

Chop marks are stamped on it, somebody carved their initials or something with knife on yours. Most of the raw trade dollars are fake.

 

What are chop marks anyway? I assume that that is what was called Oriental Marks, but what were they for?

 

I'm thinking there wasn't an interest in the trade dollars because most knew they were counterfeit.

-LTB

 

From wikipedia..."Many Trade dollars have what are called "chop marks" on them. Chinese merchants would stamp the coins, thus guaranteeing weight and fineness and, also, advertising their businesses."

-LTB

 

Can anyone give me an idea whether this is authentic or not? It looks real to me but I'm not an expert at authenticating.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I only have 2 trade dollars in my collection. I have this one with the marks and another one that is the same year and mint, but I'm starting to wonder if it's authentic or not.

 

Test them with a good magnet to see if the are magnetic

 

Chop marks are usually Chinese characters, not alphabets. Here are someone's trade dollar set with chopmarks. http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/alltimeset.aspx?s=19247

 

Starkiss here is an excellent link on trade dollars

http://www.cointalk.com/t63695/

 

Thanks. Good thread.