Trade dollars

VTchaser

I know nothing about T$1's.

All I know is I want one. Which is the most affordable. Anything less than $75?

Eldorado9

They are really great coins....I am with you, I love them. Unfortunately they have gotten pretty expensive, even worn examples are somewhat pricey. I would highly recommend getting a certified coin, by one of the three TPG's. There are MANY FAKES! Be careful!!!!

lermish

@Eldorado9 said:
They are really great coins....I am with you, I love them. Unfortunately they have gotten pretty expensive, even worn examples are somewhat pricey. I would highly recommend getting a certified coin, by one of the three TPG's. There are MANY FAKES! Be careful!!!!

+1

Have you considered chopmarked trade dollars? Not only are they cool, uniqu, and have a ton of history, they can also be less expensive.

Either way though, for <$75, it will be tough to find any example, much less one in reasonable condition.

ricko

@VTchaser ... I agree with @Eldorado9. Great coins, and expensive. Chop marked Trade Dollars are nice too, though some collectors do not like them. Cheers, RickO

kaz

I did a quick search on Collectors.com for sub 100$ trade dollars and found a holed example on ebay for about 98$, and of course some fakes. There are probably more fakes in the Trade Dollar series than any other, so buying budget ungraded coins is always risky. My advice would be to save up to buy one certified and plan on paying 150 to 250 for a fine to vf example.

vulcanize

@VTchaser said:
I know nothing about T$1's.

All I know is I want one. Which is the most affordable. Anything less than $75?

As a newbie, burnt my fingers on quite a few fakes chasing after low price alternatives and I mean some really good fakes which could fool most folks if it were not in hand and doing minute scrutiny along with the weight test etc.

Get it ONLY in slabbed version because I have also got screwed over by a very reputed dealer, someone whom I thought was genuinely helping me with an 1893 CC Morgan that turned out to be cleaned when sent in for grading.

The cheapest trade dollar that I ever bought on eBay was an 1877-S graded VG-8 by ANACS for $138 (taxes and shipping included).

All the best.

VTchaser

Why are they so expensive? As well as faked so much? The design isn't gorgeous, just curious. Low mintage?

Weiss

They're awesome. An enigmatic series struck for use outside of the US (trade with Asia).
Heavier than a standard silver dollar. Interesting varieties. Short run of just a few years. Several proof-only years that are obtainable with a stretch. Carson City silver. Chop marks.

LOTS of fakes. Like, lots of them. Unless you really know this series well, only buy PCGS® certified coins from reputable dealers.

fiftysevener

I like them too. I think relatively speaking they are not that expensive. I bought an 1876 for around 500.00. PCGS AU 50 with no rim damage or scratches with normal light circulation shows 34 graded with about 550 higher. If CAC would bean it that would help. Bottom line is very few are free of damage or chops.

Walkerguy21D

Surprised how much circs are apparently now going for.
I bought a nice crusty XF/+ common date from a dealer friend for “stock” some years ago for $165. Sat in my modest inventory for a couple years, no one needed one. In the meantime it grew on me, as it had attributes my 7070 coin didn’t have, and vice versa. Decided to just keep both.

kaz

@VTchaser said:
Why are they so expensive? As well as faked so much? The design isn't gorgeous, just curious. Low mintage?

Type collectors want one for their set, 77-s and 78-s being the most available. They were made for trade with China and of the ones shipped overseas most wound up melted. Most of them (outside of some of the CC issues) aren't that hard to find, but the available numbers pale in comparison to, say, most Morgan dollars.
As to the fakes, there is a long history of counterfeit coins in China, and the Trade Dollars were targeted almost immediately. Fakes often turn up in old collections when they are dispersed, and of course fakes continue to be churned out.
A nice VF coin might look like this one:

Glen2022

If you don"t mind a details coin, you can probably get one for abut $175 or so on Great Collections that has been lightly cleaned in XF or perhaps even AU. It will be slabbed also.

Stingray63

A Trade dollar is on my list and a coin I was looking for earlier this year myself. I don't like "Details" on my labels so went searching for a Twenty cent that was another coin I didn't have. Found that one. Just keep searching but don't buy one that you think you'll regret later.

lkenefic

These have definitely gotten more popular in the last decade or so. I sold a nice AU50 coin (1873... first year of issue) for $175 but that was ten years ago! I finally replaced it last year with a PCGS AU53 for $500...

There could be many reasons for the increased attention. Maybe more people have discovered Type Set collecting during the Pandemic. At the time I was shopping, finding a problem free sample raw was next to impossible. Couple that with the increase in Chinese counterfeits, and I was only looking for certified coins... even though they're destined for my album.

I've also been looking for a lightly chop marked sample to go with my chopped 8-Reales, but these have gotten pricey as of late too.

Keep on the lookout on ebay... sometimes I've seen certified Genuine pieces that are holed or similar damage that go cheap... best of luck!

TennesseeDave

Trade Dollars are my favorite series. Luckily, I started collecting them several years ago, before the prices skyrocketed. Good advice given so far. Good luck in your search.

Crypto

Just wanted to add pics of two scarce varieties

IKU

I think only lower and middle end coins' prices have gone up.
About +2,5x compared to 10-20 years ago.
Like if it was 100$(2010) it is now 250$(2020).

High end coins' values are same: 1000-10000$ and they certainly did not increase to 2500-25000$ like "cheaper" coins of around 100$.

spyglassdesign

I would love to snag one of these some day for my store but finding good looking ones at decent prices is tough... They get pretty high prices in most places these days!

WCC

@VTchaser said:
Why are they so expensive? As well as faked so much? The design isn't gorgeous, just curious. Low mintage?

For the budget you stated, a large minority of US pre-20th century type is out of reach, unless the buyer doesn't care how the coin looks.

I've read that cull Morgans sell for $30 or more recently. If true, I wouldn't expect it will be possible to buy a Trade $ for $75.

BryceM

It's not hard to buy a trade dollar, but it's quite difficult to find a nice one. That's true at almost any price point too. It took me a few tries to find one that met my collecting goals: