Opinions from the past. . .

Draco

I was looking thru a catalog from 1936/37 and came accross this section on trade dollars. If this is a true representation, it's amazing any of them survived but I suppose it would explain their current value.

Rotts

Kewl

littlewicher

I'll take 100 of each.

jeffnpcb

Where's tradedollarnut when you need him!!!!

RYK

I really do enjoy those historic catalogs. I also wish I loaded up on some 18th century halves!

numobri

I'll take a 1794 half and pay you in 1936 money(lol)

coppercoins

I'm assuming they were going for silver melt value as opposed to face value. Interesting and odd, something I didn't know. Thanks for posting it!

littlewicher

I've always wanted to know why the US demonitized the Trade Dollar. What was the reason?

Draco

Hmm. . .an 1838-O half for $150.00? I can't seem to find a price for one today because there are only about 20 pieces known to exist. I think $150.00 in 1936 dollars would translate to something like $1800 2002. What a bargain. Where is a good time machine when you need one?

littlewicher

The redbook has a MS60 1838 O listed at over $50,000.

Draco

No MS in 1838-O. The 20 that were struck were proofs. PCGS pop report shows 3 graded with 66 the highest. Even though my 2003 red book shows 75,000 for MS60 (even though there was no MS), I doubt you could touch any of them for that.

With so many rare coin collectors/dealers here, I'm sure one of them has seen or knows of the sale of one.

littlewicher

I didn't know that. I have a 98 redbook, and it shows the price as $52,500. Redbook shouldn't list prices for coins where there are less then 50 known coins for a specific date or MM.

boz

Littlewicher: It all had to do with the Gov't issueing them at $5 value, then they fell to standard. Banks and retailers refused to take them and if they did it was at a discount. Morgans had come into favor by then and were readily accepted by the public. For some real interesting reading, if you're truly interested, read Crime of 1873 by Robert Van Ryzin.

lclugza

At first the Trade dollar was legal tender in the USA for amounts up to $5, but the US legal tender status was repealed in 1876 when the price of silver (in terms of gold, the US being on a gold standard then) dropped. For many years the Trade dollar was worth less than face value, and unscrupulous businesses would pay employees in Trade dollars rather than the same number of "real" dollars as they could get Trade dollars at a discount to face value. The Trade dollars were not melted because their bullion value was even less than their value to collectors. I think perhaps in the 1960s the legal tander status was restored.

agfox

In my coinage book from 1839, 1794 dollars were still trading at face value.

fcloud

My Fell's United States Coin Book, Monte, 1949 shows most traded dollars at $2 each with the rare dates being more.