Neat lowball trade dollar

Picked up this 1874 trade that was obvious a pocket piece. I thought it was fun

 

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Nice! Trade dollars are the best!

 

I'd like to get one to put in my so called treasure chest of silver coins . I love it .

 

Coins like this are fun. You don't have to worry much about how you handle them. Not much worry about it being a fake. Cool old piece.

 

Wow. I don't think I have see one that worn before. One of those "If this coin could talk" coins.

 

Wow, usually lowball trade dollar means so many chop marks it's just a lump of jagged metal. Nice pickup.

So, what'd she run you?

 

Just what I was wondering . I'm guessing $60 .

 

Not criticizing, just asking. With the pin holes, especially on the obverse, be a indicator of a fake?

 

Did these circulate in the United States?

 

Suspect that one went to China and back quite a few times in its day.

 

They were legal tender in the US for amounts up to $5 from 1873 to sometime in 1876, but i the early years they probably didn't circulate much in the US because they were worth more than a dollar in trade overseas. But with silver falling in price around late 1874 or 1875 the face value of the coin exceeded the silver value and they were now worth more as a dollar in the US than as silver in China. At that point they started coming back home and entering circulation.

Add to that the fact that after the Act of 1873, holders of silver that brought the metal to the mint could only receive either bars, worth silver value, or Trade dollars with a face value greater than the silver value. This encouraged people to deposit silver, get trade dollars and then spend them here. The government tried to prevent this by requiring depositors to sign document promising to export the coins and not use them locally, but that almost certainly didn't work. So in 1876 the legal tender status of the Trade dollar was removed completely. After that point they would normally only be accepted at a discount to face value in commerce. That acted as a real brake on them circulating. Businesses would still buy them at bullion value (less than face value) and then pay them out to their workers at face value. The workers couldn't refuse them without losing their jobs, but when they spend them they suffered the loss from face to bullion value. Then the next week the business owners would buy them again from the merchants/banks and start the process over again.[/quote][/quote]

 

one of those would be so cool!

 

Once again he drops a bomb from his tree of knowledge brain. Thanks for the info conder. Into the memory bank it goes

 

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I was about to say the same. I read it three times I think.

 

One quibble, if I earned $5 a day and the boss paid me 5 trade dollars, when I spent them in a store, I would get $5 of goods, not the bullion value.

 

Was part of a 5 coin lot including 2 low grade barber quarters and a cleaned 1838 quarter and a cleaned 53-o a&r quarter. I paid $230 for the lot. Figured the trade at $100

 

I actually sent this out to pcgs today. For resale as a lowball. And I'm curious on this one. Business strike or a circulated proof the rims what's left of them are fairly thick like a proof. Not sure the exact die diagnostics. @crypto79 any ideas?

 

I hope it comes back as authentic. I've no specific evidence against, just a bunch of niggling doubts. There isn't enough detail left to see anything concrete aside it *seems* to be an appropriate Type 1/Type 1.

Not trying to harsh your buzz, Mainebill, just being cautious. My avatar ought to indicate my opinion of Lowballs.

 

Except the store owner would only allow the bullion value of the coins say 80 cents each. So your five trade dollars would only be accepted as four dollars in trade. You bring five dollars in goods to the counter and give him five trade dollars he insists on one more dollar or takes back 1 dollar worth of the goods. That's if he is willing to accept them at all. Remember they aren't legal tender any more.

 

Thought we were talking about when they WERE legal tender.