1877-S Barber Trade Dollar with 'Arrow' Chop-MARK

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by wlwhittier, May 31, 2025 at 1:01 PM.

  1. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Peripheral Member

    Good day, mates!
    This belongs to a friend who knows even less than I do about numismatics, but "it was Dad's" is all I have...he's 81, his pappy died ~30 years ago.
    The coin is in reasonable condition to my eyes; that single chop-mark is why it's before this forum. A quick look says a simple arrow pointed right...but I'm less sure about that assumption the more I look at it. The mark was deeply stamped, resulting in damage to the word FINE on the reverse, as well as a slight 'bubble' at that spot. The obverse I believe shows a single stamp was used to make all 4 'brushstrokes' of that symbol at one blow, but I am not sure about that, either.
    If it is not an arrow, then it seems likely the mark is an Asian character...which, singly or in groups or series, I think was pretty common on these as well as a variety of other roughly similar coins used as trade currency globally during that period.
    Can anyone please help me to identify the mark, an' its significance on this dollar? Your comments are all most welcome, including grading estimates...Thanks for lookin'!
    Edit: Weight is 27.3 grams; diameter is ~38mm.

    P1440408.jpeg

    P1440409.jpeg P1440410.jpeg P1440411.jpeg
     
    Inspector43, SensibleSal66 and Neal like this.
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. KBBPLL

    KBBPLL Well-Known Member

    I'm not an expert on these but my hunch is that the chopmark represents the merchant's name who certified it, and maybe not an actual letter/word of Chinese or other language.
     
    SensibleSal66 and wlwhittier like this.
  4. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Peripheral Member

    That makes good sense...Thanks!
     
    SensibleSal66 and KBBPLL like this.
  5. The Half Dime

    The Half Dime Arrows!

    That was likely stamped in China...... maybe the person who stamped it said "take it back ov'air to the US!" - LOL, it's marking is worth a thousand words.

    I grade it AU details, cleaned - that shouldn't hurt the value too bad, as an uncleaned example can command a nice premium since most remaining US Trade dollars are cleaned. CDNs are $385/500 for AU50, $350/455 for XF40, so it's a 3-digit beauty either way. Depending on the collector, the chopmark may be worth more.
     
    SensibleSal66 and wlwhittier like this.
  6. Jersey magic man

    Jersey magic man Supporter! Supporter

    I love those trade dollars with one to three chop marks!
     
    wlwhittier and SensibleSal66 like this.
  7. ksparrow

    ksparrow Coin Hoarder Supporter

    I'd call it AU details (cleaned/polished). That is an interesting chopmark. I don't know much about these, but there is a chopmarked coins Subreddit frequented by some real experts on chops. You might post it over there.
     
    wlwhittier and SensibleSal66 like this.
  8. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    Nice coin! Not too distracting on the chopmark. Hopefully someone can ID it.
     
    wlwhittier likes this.
  9. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    Well. Not much info. out there on chopmarks besides that it's considered damage and I did find one book that cost around $64!
     
    wlwhittier likes this.
  10. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Peripheral Member

    A great suggestion...which I followed up with a post there last night. Several responses, all agreeing it's been cleaned, an' that the single chop may be an Asian character. I'll wait a few days, then post here the most pertinent of their comments. Thanks, all!
     
    ksparrow likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page