British Trade Dollar/Dealer question

Colquhoun

When I look at the inventory of any british dealer I never see Trade Dollars.. do they just ignore them.. or are they hiding them somewhere for the people in the know?

satootoko

It's simple - most reputable dealers don't traffic in counterfeits.

Doogy

who said anything about counterfeits?

tonyhar

They very rarely appear in collections or over the counter transactions.

Sapyx

British trade dollars aren't, technically speaking, British coins. They were struck in India and shipped to their intended destinations in Asia. Very few made it back to Britain, and unlike their American counterparts, never entered circulation in the homeland. They aren't, for example, listed in the Spink catalogue. Krause puts them under "Great Britain" because it couldn't think of anywhere else to put them.


<< <i>who said anything about counterfeits? >>


They've long been a very popular coin among the Asian counterfeiters. Some are good, some are abysmal, some are simply bullion rounds that bear a passing similarity British trade dollars (like the ones that say "for jewellery" instead of "one dollar"). If you don't know what you're doing with these coins, you can easily wind up with a fistful of fakes.

Doogy

<< <i>British trade dollars aren't, technically speaking, British coins. They were struck in India and shipped to their intended destinations in Asia. Very few made it back to Britain, and unlike their American counterparts, never entered circulation in the homeland. They aren't, for example, listed in the Spink catalogue. Krause puts them under "Great Britain" because it couldn't think of anywhere else to put them.


<< <i>who said anything about counterfeits? >>


They've long been a very popular coin among the Asian counterfeiters. Some are good, some are abysmal, some are simply bullion rounds that bear a passing similarity British trade dollars (like the ones that say "for jewellery" instead of "one dollar"). If you don't know what you're doing with these coins, you can easily wind up with a fistful of fakes. >>




i do of course realize that these were counterfeited, much like US trade dollars. However, the original poster said nothing of counterfeits; Roy assumed that the Trade Dollars that a dealer would have for sale would automatically (or most likely) be counterfeits. Much like US trade dollars, most counterfeit British ones are fairly easy to spot and crudely made.

Colquhoun

I have only ever had one british trade dollar, I know for a fact it was not a good one.. it was underweight and just didn't feel right (it was mutlilated and discarded). I picked it up in a kilo lot of foreign coins. I have since then often thought of picking up another, however since I have long suspected many were counterfiet.. I figured buying one from a respectable british dealer would greatly reduce my chance of ending up with a fake. Should we just make the assumption that any coin from asia, or that was used in Asia is fake and just toss them out with the bathwater and the baby?

satootoko

My point was simply that the quantity of fakes available so vastly outnumbers the quantity of real ones that reputable dealers who are not comfortable with their own expertise in the field would be likely to avoid handling them for fear of getting stung.

coinkat

I like these but rarely find nice examples

jamakin

I forgot exactly what I paid for this one but now i wonder if it is legit....

MichaelS

Occasionally Harlan J Berk has some certified British trade dollars, and Northeast Numismatics usually has a few certified examples in stock.

-Mike