Pictures are from my phone dont have a good camera. I bought a morgan online and the guy gave me this as a bonus, Its the exact same size as a morgan and feels to me exact weight as the morgan, what is it? Ive never heard of a trade dollar. Under the eagle it says 420 grains, 900 fine S mint mark ?
This bonus coin is probably a fake due to it being given to you for free. look a real one up on ebay and see if they look the same. With your poor pics we can't tell, sorry.
THe Trade Dollar was struck by the US goverment for trade with the Orient (Mostly China) they were struck for about 10 years and are very collectible although they are often faked. -Russ
A 1872 S Trade dollar in G-4 condition would go for at least 275$. I'm 99.9% sure its a fake, unless this guy is your grandfather or something of that nature. Here is mine, It bears a chop mark on the reverse, and it has been whizzed in the past. I paid 118$ for it.
Trade dollars were first minted in 1873. Patterns were made in 1871 and 1872, but they are quite different from the coin that was eventually coined in 1873. So an 1872-S trade dollar is a fake.
They're making their better copies out of silver , the dentils should be about the same width of the rim , and should be fairly sharp and square . Look at the eagles eye on some fakes they look like a single incused round hole . Best to compare it with a known one of the same type . Basically there are 2 obverse types were the banner saying Liberty ends point sharply to the left and type 2 it turns to the right , on the hand holding the olive branch type 1 has 3 fingers , Type 1 revrerse has a berry under the eagles claw and the arrowhead points over the 0 . Type 2 reverse has no berry under the eagles claw , with the tip of the arrowhead over the 2 . rzage
I didn't even notice the date an 1872 Trade dollar is worse than an 1805 Draped Dollar I once saw on ebay . rzage
I'm beginning to really hate all of these stupid "fantasy coins"-- especially the ones that don't comply with the Hobby Protection Act.
