USA 1 dollar Trade Dollar 1873
USA, Carson City
Rarity
Scarce
Attributes of Coins
| Region | USA |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 dollar |
| Krause number | KM# 108 |
| Mintage | 124,500 |
| Metal | Silver 0.900 |
| thickness | 3 mm |
| diameter | 37.8 mm |
| weight | 27.22 g |
Obverse:
Liberty
People
Star
Creators:
William Barber
IN GOD WE TRUST
LIBERTY
Reverse:
Bird
Coat of arms
Creators:
William Barber
420 GRAINS. 900 FINE.
E PLURIBUS UNUM
TRADE DOLLAR
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Introduction of Coins
The Carson City Mint received four pairs of dies on July 22,1873. Production commenced that same day, with 4500 coins were ready for shipment the next day, and another 2580 were distributed to curious locals the next day (trade dollars were a legal tender to the amount of five dollars until 1876). Clearly, very few of these coins were preserved once their novelty value had faded. Since this coin type didn't appears until mid year, all obverse dies bear an Open 3, rather than the Closed 3 condemned months earlier. The reverse dies all featured a tiny CC mintmark. Six additional die pairs followed the original shipment in July, as the attrition rate of trade dollar dies proved to be quite high. The only varieties of note are two misplaced date (MPD) dies on which the tops of several numerals may be seen within the denticles below the date. Even with all of these dies the 1873 mintage was a modest 124,000 pieces, and it appears that nearly all of these coins were shipped overseas. Only a few returned, and most of the trade dollars repatriated during the 1950s-60s were worn, damaged and/or chop-marked (these Asian characters were a guarantee of genuineness and full value affixed to dollar-size or, sometimes, half dollar-size silver coins). Mint State examples are very rare, with gems all but unknown.Read More
