Chopped Chinese $... are these common?
Skrill90
Posts: 264 ✭✭✭
Spotted a chopped Fat Man silver dollar
was surprised since I've always heard of chops on trade dollars
but this is the first I've seen on a china dollar
Are these common?
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Skrill90
Posts: 264 ✭✭✭
Comments
They are not uncommon. There are hundreds of types known with chops, including countless foreign types (of varying rarity) and virtually every silver Chinese issue through 1925.
Yes they are pretty common. Most have tiny chop marks though, not large like this one. Makes me wonder if that chopmark on the reverse is legitimate or not (I’m not sure).
@ChopmarkedTrades what are the rarest or most valuable foreigns with chops?
There are several types that are known by only a single example chopmarked; these include the Hawaiian Dala, a number of English/Scottish counterstamped Spanish colonial 8 Reales (Rothsay Cotton Works, Glasgow Bank), among others. Many exist in just a small handful of examples, like the Argentina 'Sunface' 8 Reales, the Mexican Iturbide 8 Reales, the Brazilian 960 Reis, pre-1800 US Silver Dollars, US Seated Dollars, etc.
However, the most valuable chopmarked coins are typically valued for the rarity of their host type rather than the chops themselves, such as the Taiwan 'Old Man' Dollars. All known examples of this type have chopmarks, so the market treats them all as if they were not impaired, given that there exist no alternatives. Some other particularly valuable ones that fit this description include the 1934 'Birds over Junk' One Yuan, the 1878-CC US Trade Dollar, and likely the single most valuable, an extremely rare Danish Asiatic Company 'Greenland' Dollar, though I have yet to see that one in hand.
If I were to guess which coin would bring the greatest premium over an unmarked version if it were to come up for sale today, I would suggest the 1875-P US Trade Dollar, with virtually no uncontested examples. It's a major key in the chopmarked Trade Dollar set, less so without chops.