I have been looking for a Proof Trade Dollar for some time. When I was a dealer, the other dealers always wanted too much. I wanted a piece that had not been dipped. This one is NGC graded PR-64. I bought this one in the recent Heritage sale. It is an 1881, which is a "common date" among Proof Trade Dollars with a Proof only mintage of 960. I have two pictures of this coin, the Heritage Photos and my photos neither captures how it looks in person exactly, but each has their merits. My is "juiced," but it's hard to get the Proof surfaces from my limited equipment. The Heritage photos My juiced photos These late date Trade Dollars were made after the government determined that the coin posed a threat to the domestic economy. The problem was they were met for trade abroad, mostly Asia, and not here. Extensive use of them in the U.S. economy would have resulted in rapid inflation. The trouble is people put them into domestic circulation, even after the U.S. Government took away their legal tender status. A vicious cycle occurred when they were traded at less than a dollar each, even in numismatic auctions! Slippery employers palmed them off on unsuspecting workers who found out that the coins were not worth a dollar, even though it said "Trade Dollar" on them. Dave Bowers wrote that the coin collectors of the period were not fans of these coins. They didn't sell for strong prices and a fair number of them were spent. Here is the Mint State coin that was included in my type set.
Proof coins, especially the toned examples, are a bear to photograph. In my case, if I take the shot straight on, none of the reflective mirrors show. Shooting angles, gives one aspect of how the coin looks in person, but the beauty of these coins can only be appreciated when you swirl it around under the light. The auction houses sometimes provide motion pictures of that but usually only for very expensive lots. Over time I have gotten pretty good at interpreting pictures on the internet for Mint State and circulated coins, medals and tokens, but the Proof coins are still beyond me. I was able to make a positive decision on this one because Heritage was at the Summer FUN Show showing lots, and I got to see it in person. I ran around the bourse looking at the Proof Trade Dollars the dealers had. The prices ranged from $2,000 for a Proof-60 that was half way decent to a piece for $23,000 that was graded PR-67 Ultra Cameo. The $23,000 one was impressive, but it was bright white. To me it was one of those instances were dipping the coin worked. I was looking for something with more originality, and I was unwilling to spend that much in any case. The PR-63 in the Heritage sale was nice, but it came before this piece which was my first choice. That met if I bought that one, I’d have pass on my first choice. There was also another white Proof in the Heritage sale which sold for close the $6,000. It was similar to the $23,000 piece except that it was a little cloudy. (The brightness was slightly dulled.) It’s interesting how a tiny difference in preservation can make so much of a difference in price. Trifling hairline scratches also make a big difference. Usually you can only see them at certain angles with a strong glass, which is another reason why judging Proof coins from photos is difficult to impossible.
