Designer:
William Barber
Face Value: One
dollar
Minted: 1873-1885
Precious Metal Content: 0.7874
oz Pure Silver
Diameter 38.1
mm
In 1873, the U.S. Trade Dollar was introduced to facilitate
commerce in the Far East as the then favored silver coin
in that trade was the old Mexican peso due to its high silver content. Congress
authorized the minting of a new silver dollar containing more silver than was
standard for the issue in order to compete against the Mexican coinage.
Virtually, the entire mintage of 1873 Trade Dollars (except
proofs) were shipped to China.
In 1876, a decrease in silver prices made the face value
above the silver value, which led to millions of Trade Dollars suddenly showing
up in California. On July 22, 1876, Congress removed the
legal tender status on the coin. The Trade Dollar remains the only American
silver coin to have lost its legal tender standing.
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