Slots Per Page
Page Header Text Options
Trade Dollars
Color Options for the Cover
Cover Image Options
Front Cover Text Options
Trade Dollars
Trade Dollars
1873 to 1878
Trade Dollars
1873 to 1883
Trade Dollars
1873 to 1885
Trade Dollars
of Philadelphia
Trade Dollars
of Carson City
Trade Dollars
of San Francisco
Inside Cover Text Options
Click to expand
History has never been stranger to a coin produced by the United States than the subject of the Trade Dollar. The series had a short run, minted for circulation only for five years and then for collectors for the next five, and it stands as the only coin to have ever been demonetized by the government.
The concept of a Trade Dollar is not limited to the United States. Several foreign powers were creating their own dollar-sized coins for use in export and trade, particularly with the growing Asian markets. For the better part of American history, the coins of Mexico were preferred over anything made by the United States. However, once Emperor Maximilian rose to power in Mexico and had his image placed on his country’s coins, the markets of Asia began to reject Mexican coinage. America had an opening.