Q. David Bowers
Historically, most specialized trade dollar collections to cross the auction block were well endowed with Philadelphia Mint Proofs 1873-1883, but either lacked mintmarks, or had just a sparse representation of commoner issues. Only a few nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century collections contained significant runs of Carson City and San Francisco coins. When these were included, the issues which were and still are major rarities in Mint Statesuch as 1873-CC, 1873-S, 1876-CC, 1877-CC, and 1878-CC-were nearly always in lower grades. Awareness of "condition rarity" was low, and there was no equivalent of Bruce Amspacher or other modern-day observers. Even though such dealers as the Chapman brothers, B. Max Mehl, Ed. Frossard, Lyman H. Low, et al. may have had very few Uncirculated 1873-CC, 1873-S, 1876-CC, 1877-CC, and 1878-CC (to continue the example) trade dollars in their inventories or auctions, this did not mean that these varieties earned enthusiastic descriptions on the infrequent occasions when they appeared, and it did not mean that such coins sold for high prices. In terms of today's connoisseurship, numismatists of a century ago were blissfully unaware of what was (and still is) rare and what wasn't in the trade dollar series.
The problem of price determination, especially for business strikes, is most difficult for the market years prior to the 1940s, for very few numismatists collected trade dollars, and few dealers handled significant numbers of them. Some who did stock or catalogue them did not bother to look to see if mintmarks were present (thus, there are listings for "1878 Uncirculated" coins that undoubtedly represent 1878-S, for no business strikes were made in Philadelphia that year). There are very few advertisements, fixed price lists, or auction catalogues offering for sale scarce issues such as Mint State examples of the aforementioned 1873-CC, 1873-S, 1876-CC, and 1878-CC (and this list of varieties could be expanded). The figures I give are mainly guesses- I hope educated guesses-based upon extrapolations of VF, EF, and AU prices.
While decades ago the 1878-CC was recognized as being rate in all grades due to its low mintage, few if any numismatists were aware that in superb Uncirculated grade such issues as 1873-CC, 1873-S, and 1876-CC were as rare or even rarer. Historically, these issues have had premium values much less than might be otherwise expected.
Prices in italic type for market prices of trade dollars 1986 and later reflect issues/ grades that have been traded infrequently if at all during the time periods indicated. In general, italic listings reflect issues of which fewer than 10 are known at a specific grade level. Such valuations are highly conjectural. In instances in which no examples were traded, but values were listed in Coin World "Trends" and other guides, the italic prices represent what such coins might have sold for if they had been offered for sale. Examples include MS-65 specimens of 1873-CC and 1874, among others. Rarity information available today was not known as recently as two or three years ago, and few if any collectors suspected that in MS-65 grade the 1874 trade dollar, ostensibly a somewhat common date in other grades, was a great rarity.
Comments on specific sources of information are given below:
Reference Books
For the listings for 1935 and 1940, Standard Catalogue of United States Coins & Currency (Wayte Raymond) was utilized, among other sources. Trade dollar pricing was minimal in the Standard Catalogue. For example, the 1936-dated edition (copyrighted 1935) gave just two price category listings for each Philadelphia Mint trade dollar of the 1873-1877 years. The 1873 was listed as follows: Une. $2.50, Proof $5.00. There were no listings for circulated grades. On the other hand, branch mint issues were listed in Very Fine and Uncirculated categories. For example, 1873-CC was listed as follows: Very Fine $3.50, Uncirculated $7.50.
For the listings from 1945 to 1985, A Guide Book of United States Coins (R.S. Yeoman; later, Kenneth E. Bressett) was employed. Grade categories varied over the years. The 1947 edition (copyrighted in 1946, using data mainly gathered in 1945) listed business strike issues in Fine and Unc., plus Proofs as applicable. The 1873 was listed as follows: Fine $3.50, Unc. $5.00, Proof $15.00. 1873-CC had this listing: Fine $6.50, Unc. $17.50.
The 1956 Guide Book (copyrighted 1955) expanded the business strike listings to Fine, Very Fine, and Unc., plus Proof as applicable. The 1961 edition (copyrighted 1960), substituted Extremely Fine for Very Fine and had these listings: Fine, Ex. Fine, Unc., plus Proof as applicable. The 1966 edition (copyrighted 1965) had these categories: VG, Fine, EF, Unc., and as applicable, Proof. By the 1981 edition (copyright 1980), numbers had been added:
VG-8, F-12, EF-40, MS-60, and as applicable, Proof-60. By the 1986 edition (copyright 1985), the numbers were the same for business strike grades, but Proof-63 had been substituted for Proof-60.
As you can see, the Guide Book listings have not been consistent over the years. Thus, it is not possible to do a straight-line comparison across many editions and years.
Other Sources
The Coin Dealer Newsletter, first published in 1963, was consulted for prices and for its time period was very important, especially beginning in the 1970s, when the listing became more comprehensive. Prices given there were mainly for "types" -the commonest dates. However, much valuable information was included.
Dealers' advertisements, fixed price lists, and auction catalogues furnished information for prices of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These plus the Standard Catalogue and Guide Book were employed for the years 1935-1970. From the 1960s to date, especially since the 1970s, the market has had an overwhelming amount of information published-including the "Trends" column in Coin World, the "Market Prices" feature of Numismatic News, the weekly Coin Dealer Newsletter and its more recent cousin, The Certified Coin Dealer Newsletter, and listings on the Teletype and electronic exchanges-plus traditional publications including the Guide Book, dealer price lists, and auction catalogues.
However, as plentiful and as well prepared as such modern data are, they are inconsistent. Nowhere is this more evident than among prices for scarce and rare issues, such as Carson City trade dollars in higher grades. Proof prices, too, vary widely. It is not unusual for a specific period in time to find the same coin in the same grade listed in prices that may vary as follows, to cite a hypothetical example: $800, $695, $1,200, and $935. Actually, in comparison to some of the auction price variations I mentioned earlier, this example is almost a paragon of consistency! For this reason, any listing in my charts, such as $950, represents an approximation. However, on balance, the figures represent as good an estimate as I was able to formulate. Taken as a whole, the figures in this book far surpass in depth, breadth, and informational value anything on trade dollars that has ever appeared in print before in a single source.