What does the writing say on the reverse of British Trade Dollars?

bennybravo

I've always liked the design,so I bought this one. I'm curious as to what it says on the reverse.Theres not alot of info on the web about these.BTW, anyone here collect them?

Thanks,
Chris

satootoko

In Japan the top and bottom characters would be read as "ichi yen". In China they would be read with the Chinese word for "one" on top, and "yuan" on the bottom. In Korea they would be read with the Korean word for "one" on top and "won" on the bottom. The meaning would be the same - one dollar-equivalent. I don't know, but I imagine the left and right characters have the same meaning in Arabic or whatever language(s) they are in. Maybe Newsman will wander by and fill us all in on that part of the coin.

Sylvestius

You know i've been collecting British coins for the past 14 years and until a month ago i didn't even know these things existed, they aren't listed in the UK catalogues, and i've never seen one for sale either.

sumnom

They are not that rare. I have seen them on ebay more than a few times.

rhound1977

I have one in my GB type set, they are not too hard to find. That is a nice one you have there....

spoon

Wow! that's a nice one

I won a really nice one of these from ajaan a long time ago.. it's one of my favorites too

If you like this design you might also like the Singapore (Straits Settlements) dollar or the old Hong Kong one. They both have similar elaborate reverses, but SS has the kings on front looking all regal and HK has Queen Vicky. I believe both of these are a bit scarcer than the Trade dollar. (The HK$ can be pricey!)

bennybravo

Thanks satootoko,I'd imagine that you're right about all meaning "One".The multi-language part is also very interesting.Thanks for all of the compliments too.It's an NGC63.These are pretty common on eBay it would seem, although I don't see alot of them in Uncirculated condition listed currently, or in past auctions either from what I can tell.Thanks again for the info!.