On eBay I see several dozen U S trade dollars with chopmarks, but only one French trade piastre, and zero British trade $'s with chops. Does anyone have an explanation? Were they used in different geographical locations?
Most trade dollars were destined for China. China had the silk, porcelain and tea that the West wanted but would only accept silver in trade. The preferred trade dollar was the 8 reales with the portrait of Charles IV (1789-1805), that when worn down a bit could resemble the Buddha. The Spanish Colonial 8 reales from the Mexico City mint and eventually the 8 reales of the Republic of Mexico were preferred and could trade at a premium to their silver value, especially the "Buddha head" dollar. Others could trade at a discount to their silver value. That's why the US trade dollar and others failed and consequently why you don't see many chopped examples. The British solved their trade imbalance by pushing opium so did not need to rely on their trade dollar much after the onset of the Opium Wars. The French piastre was for circulation in Vietnam, so not necessarily intended to trade with China. Since most trade dollars were melted into sycee, one has to wonder why any left China. Silver was not allowed to be exported. Some may have been kept as keepsakes or examples for comparison by the schroffs. Maybe some were assayed in advance of purchases and the examples we have are left overs. The silver trade with China continued into the early 20th century so you may ask where the supply of the desired "Buddha head" dollar came from. Bob Gurney answers that question in his book "Counterfeit Portrait Eight-Reales: The Un-real Reales" with the claim that several countries, including the US, produced very accurate replicas on demand for merchants trading with China. You can also find many informative posts by Bob in the world coin forum on coincommunity.com under the name "swamperbob".
The trade dollars basically went to Asia. https://www.coinworld.com/news/prec...oins-market-analysis-international-trade.html https://www.caccoin.com/forums/discussion/134/trade-dollars
Trade Dollars were made for trade in Asia and they didn’t trust the US so they checked the weight as this was new to the US.
Most trade dollars were destined for China. China had the silk, porcelain and tea that the West wanted but would only accept silver in trade. The preferred trade dollar was the 8 reales with the portrait of Charles IV (1789-1805), that when worn down a bit could resemble the Buddha. The Spanish Colonial 8 reales from the Mexico City mint and eventually the 8 reales of the Republic of Mexico were preferred and could trade at a premium to their silver value, especially the "Buddha head" dollar. Others could trade at a discount to their silver value. That's why the US trade dollar and others failed and consequently why you don't see many chopped examples. The British solved their trade imbalance by pushing opium so did not need to rely on their trade dollar much after the onset of the Opium Wars. The French piastre was for circulation in Vietnam, so not necessarily intended to trade with China. Since most trade dollars were melted into sycee, one has to wonder why any left China. Silver was not allowed to be exported. Some may have been kept as keepsakes or examples for comparison by the schroffs. Maybe some were assayed in advance of purchases and the examples we have are left overs. The silver trade with China continued into the early 20th century so you may ask where the supply of the desired "Buddha head" dollar came from. Bob Gurney answers that question in his book "Counterfeit Portrait Eight-Reales: The Un-real Reales" with the claim that several countries, including the US, produced very accurate replicas on demand for merchants trading with China. You can also find many informative posts by Bob in the world coin forum on coincommunity.com under the name "swamperbob".
Some 8 reales chopmarked in China left the country because commerce with Filipinas, Australia (Holey dollars)...
