Q. David Bowers
Trade Dollar Autobiography
The trade dollar was a commercial convenience when it was first coined, but it is now a commercial nuisance. In 1873 the trade dollar was issued for purposes of trade with China and other Asiatic countries. Before that time Americans had been buying Mexican dollars and shipping them to the Orientals in payment of merchandise. The trade dollar was never intended for circulation in this country, but for exportation abroad. For five years they were coined and largely used. The merchants might have as well used silver bars for their Eastern trade, but it was thought that the stamp of the government certifying 420' grains of silver. 900 fine would give other countries greater confidence than to use simple bars of unstamped or uncertified silver.
From 1873 to 1876 they were legal tender, and 15 million of them were coined. From 1876 to 1878 all trade dollars coined were not legal tender, but it is the opinion of eminent lawyers that the 15 million already coined were legal tender, while those coined after 1876 were not. Their coinage was discontinued February 22, 1878, up to which time there had been 35,959,360 coined. The exact value of the trade dollar is 77 cents, although people get as much more than that for them as they can.
February 19, 1887, an act was passed by Congress authorizing the redemption of trade dollars for six months dollar for dollar. At that time statisticians estimated that there were about seven million in the country. As 6,689,036 were redeemed, it is now probable that there are not many now in the United States, although they do not command a premium as rarities.
Like all other coins of this value the trade dollar has been counterfeited, most of the counterfeits being made of type metal and circulated in China, Japan, and the East Indies. The inhabitants of the East have learned to be wary and watchful when handling coins from the Occident. Most of the trade dollars that went to the Eastern countries were melted and recoined in the currency of the Orient. The trade dollar contains [6.75] grains more of silver than the standard dollar. ...
Collecting Preferences 1901-1950
During the first half of the twentieth century trade dollars, if not dishonored by collectors, were certainly unwanted. Circulated specimens of common dates were typically available for not much more than face value, and in the early years of the present century even Proofs sold for little more than a dollar each. Some sold for less than face value.
In the two leading collectors' periodicals of the day, The Numismatist (official journal of the American Numismatic Association) and the American Journal of Numismatics (organ of the American Numismatic Society), very little appeared concerning this denomination. It was almost as if the trade dollar did not exist. To be sure, publicity surrounding the newly discovered trade dollars dated 1884 and 1885 created a stir in 1908, for collectors had not suspected that these dates existed. From that time forward, the offering of an 1884 or 1885 in an auction sale commanded attention, but such issues as 1873-CC and 1878-CC went unnoticed.
In the 1930s, when coin collecting took a quantum jump forward due to the availability of coin albums and folders, the publication of regularly-issued reference books including Wayte Raymond's Standard Catalogue of u.s. Coins, and the commemorative half dollar boom of 1935-6, the new-found popularity did not extend in a meaningful way to trade dollars. As late as the 1940s, circulated trade dollars of common dates were items for the typical dealer's junk box, although by this time Proofs had meaningful value. Especially in demand were the rare 1884 and 1885, which continued to be in demand. Louis E. Eliasberg, the Baltimore collector who assembled a cabinet consisting of one each of every date and mintmark in the federal series from the 1793 half cent to the 1933 double eagle, was very proud of his 1885 trade dollar and considered it to be one of the highlights of his collection.'
Collecting Preferences 1951-1970
After about 1950, collecting trade dollars by date and mintmark became popular. Quite a few numismatists aspired to own one of each Proof date from 1873 to 1883. A few well-moneyed buyers sought the rare 1884 and 1885, whose acquisition was more a matter of availability than price.
In the 1950s the foremost collector and student of trade dollars was John M. Willem, a New York gentleman who became interested in the denomination but was frustrated because virtually nothing on the denomination was available in popular reference books. Somewhere in his travels, Willem encountered a copy of Fractional Money, a book by Neil Carothers, professor of economics and director of the College of Business Administration, Lehigh University, in Pennsylvania. Published in 1930, the volume was subtitled "A history of small coins and fractional paper currency of the United States." Within the book's red cloth covers Willem encountered a concisely-stated raison d'etre of the trade dollar, but no numismatic information concerning it. On page 177 he found this challenging footnote: "There is no satisfactory history of the trade dollar." Willem set about to remedy this omission.
I remember John M. Willem as a student of history first and a numismatist second. That is, he was not concerned with this variety or that in my coin inventory in the 1950s, but asked if I had any technical information on the trade dollar, or any unusual facts, which (I was sorry to tell him) I did not. Nor, apparently did many others. The author was on his own.
He began a relentless search through nineteenth century legislative data, Mint reports, contemporary newspapers, economic and banking journals, and other archives, and by 1959 had amassed a wealth of information. His research findings were analyzed, distilled, surrounded with an excellent text, and published in 1959 as a book, The U.S.Trade Dollar. The study was well received but achieved only a limited circulation, due to the lack of widespread interest in the trade dollar denomination.
Over the next several years Willem gathered additional information, corrected errors, and, in 1965, made an arrangement with Kenneth E. Bressett, of the Whitman Publishing Company, to take over the production of a new edition. This was an era of growth in the rare coin business, and Whitman was expanding in several directions. To its best-selling references, The Handbook of u.s.Coins (published since 1941) and A Guide Book of u.s.Coins (published since 1946; first edition postdated 1947), Whitman added many new products, including the memorable but, as it turned out, short-lived, Whitman Numismatic Journal. Willem's The United States Trade Dollar was caught up in this activity and it was distributed along with other Whitman products.
To quote Willem's introduction to his book:
The writing and assembly of the contents of this book is directly the result of a statement by Neil Carothers in his excellent book Fractional Money, that "There is no satisfactory history of the trade dollar." This challenge was too much to ignore by one whose appetite had only been whetted by such isolated references to the trade dollar as appeared in writings dedicated to other subjects. Whether this work is a satisfactory history of an anomalous coin, or as satisfactory as distance in years will permit, the reader will have to judge for himself.
The Willem work has stood the test of time, and today, although it is out of print, it remains the standard authority on the history of the trade dollar. Let us hope it again becomes available.