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Trade dollars: the heavier dollar they sent to China
US Trade dollars (1873–1885) are 420-grain .900 silver coins made for Asian commerce, not for a US cash register. Chop marks are normal. They are not Morgans and not Silver Eagles. Common chopped dates are melt-plus; 1884 and 1885 proofs are not a coffee-can coin.
A Trade dollar is a US silver dollar struck 1873 through 1878 for circulation (proofs continue to 1885). It was meant to compete with the Mexican 8 reales in China. It weighs 420 grains (about 27.2 g), a little heavier than a Morgan at 412.5 grains. Both are .900 silver. What a dollar is.
The reverse says TRADE DOLLAR. If it says ONE DOLLAR, it is not this coin.
Chops, legal tender, and the mess
Chinese merchants chopmarked coins they trusted — a punch with a shop name. A chopped Trade dollar is used as designed, not automatically damaged junk. We still look at the host coin.
In the US they were legal tender only up to $5, then demonetized in 1876 when silver flooded back from Asia. The Coinage Act of 1965 made them legal tender again. That does not make a chopped 1877 a Morgan.
Common vs the ones we pull
Circulation dates 1873–1878 from Philadelphia, Carson City, and San Francisco. Common chopped pieces: melt plus a little. Problem-free unchopped coins do better. 1878-CC and a few CC dates get a closer look. 1884 and 1885 are proof-only rarities. If someone emails you an 1884, assume a problem until a real grader has seen it. How shops check authenticity.
A so-called dollar is a medal. A Trade dollar is a coin.
Extra history
The Coinage Act of 1873 (the one silver people later called the Crime of 1873) killed the standard silver dollar and created this export piece. When Asia did not absorb the flood, the coins came home and traded below a dollar. That is why Congress pulled the legal-tender status.
What a shop pays
Chopped common date: silver, plus a small type add. Nice original: more. Holed, harshly cleaned, or a cast fake: melt or nothing. Don’t clean. Junk vs Eagles.
People also ask
Is a Trade dollar a Morgan? No. Different design, different weight, different job.
Do chop marks ruin it? For a type collector, often no. For a high-grade date collector, yes. We say so before the bid.
Are they 90%? Yes. Heavier than a Morgan, same fineness.