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How many countries issued trade "dollars"
GoldClause
Posts: 838 ✭
I'm aware of US and British trade dollars. What other countries issued coins specifically for trade?
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The pieces of eight was called the Spanish dollar in the United States, where it remained legal tender in much of the pre-Civil War era of the Republic. Ferdinand and Isabella, Spanish monarchs famous for financing Columbus's expedition in search of a western route to the Indies, introduced the de a ocho reales as a part of a plan to furnish Spain with a unified coinage system. Reales, Spanish for royal, was sometimes called a 'bit' in English, which explains why a quarter is two bits, or three quarters six bits. The term bits may be a reference to a practice of cutting a pieces of eight into eight bits, which circulated as coins. Charles V spread the Spanish coinage system in Europe, where the pieces of eight was equal in value to the Bohemian or Saxon Thaler. In the United States it became the dollar.
Vast silver deposits in Peru and Mexico enabled Spain to infuse the world trading system with a steady stream of reals. Mexico City became the seat of the largest mint in the world, turning out a piece of eight coin called the "pillar dollar", a reference to the symbol of the Pillars of Hercules stamped on the obverse (pillar series) or reverse (portrait series). One purpose of the coin was to advertise the New World, and the Pillars of Hercules, the strait that opens the Mediterranean into the Atlantic Ocean, was regarded as the door that led to the New World. The "$" sign probably evolved as a bookkeeping symbol for the dollar with the vertical line or lines representing the pillars and the S sign representing a banner hanging from it. The first, or Continental currency of the United States of America, was made payable in Spanish milled dollars. The Mexican peso and its subdivisions were legal tender in US until February 21, 1857, when by Act of Congress, all laws authorizing its circulation and acceptance were repealed.
Here's an example of the pillar design:
8 Reales Madness Collection
<< <i>Thanks for the replies. I understand what you mean about Austria (Maria Thaler) and the 8 Reales, both were major trade coinage, but I was thinking more along the line of coins specifically designated as trade coinage. >>
I understand. In that case you're limited to the U.S., British, and Japanese Trade $.
By the way, there's an assumption that Barber designed the U.S. trade dollar reverse to be similar to the 8 Reales eagle that was already widely accepted in the Orient.
Another thought is that the reason US decided to get into the whole trade coinage thing due to the opportunity that arose from the fact that Mexico changed their Cap and Ray design to the Balance Scale design and changed the diameter of the coin. This change was not accepted by the China market, forcing Mexico to go back to their Cap and Ray design in 1873. If I was a country like U.S. trying to enter international market, I would jump all over this opportunity.
8 Reales Madness Collection
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Carlos Jara
http://www.lanumismatics.blogspot.com/
"A blog about Latin American Numismatics"
http://www.lanumismatics.blogspot.com/
"A blog about Latin American Numismatics"
<< <i>I think you should follow the lines of Harold Salvesen. Spink auctioned his collection of trade dollars a few years back (Spink& Son, Zurich auction No. 28, 24 Oct. 1988). The "Greenland pillars" should definitely be included in your list.
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Carlos Jara
http://www.lanumismatics.blogspot.com/
"A blog about Latin American Numismatics" >>
That was mean, Carlos. I was just starting to forget the disappointment I felt at not being able to own one of those pieces
From 2009 Heritage Long Beach sale:
<< <i>The Famous Greenland Dollar
Christian VII Danish Asiatic Company Piastre 1777 - The Greenland Dollar, KM639.2, Davenport 412, Salv-52, AU58 NGC, highly appealing old-time cabinet patina with traces of luster in the legends. The Greenland Dollar is a bit of a misnomer in that it was struck for trade in the Orient, but includes the Danish island territories on the coin, namely Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The design of the coin was inspired by the dominant Asian trade coin, the Spanish colonial pillar 8 Reales. This variety utilizes the ISLAN spelling for Iceland, rather than ISLAND. Salveson knew of 21 examples of this variety with 12 in museums. The Greenland Dollar is prized by collectors of Scandinavia, world crowns and trade dollars, and is easily one of the most famous coins ever struck. Estimate: $40,000 - $50,000. >>
8 Reales Madness Collection
They were intended to pay the Nationalist Chinese soldiers fighting the Communists.
These might be considered the last "trade dollars".
I wrote an article on these coins several years ago;
it is on my website below.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
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Coins on Television
<< <i>Wasn't the 1918 Eriteria tallero also a trade dollar specifically produced to compete with the MT taler? >>
And it even mimicked the design to the point where people in that region rejected it as a bad counterfeit. So they are now pretty rare coins since the Italians ended up destroying most of the coins.
<< <i>And it even mimicked the design to the point where people in that region rejected it as a bad counterfeit. So they are now pretty rare coins since the Italians ended up destroying most of the coins >>
It's also a widely counterfeited coin. Be carefull if you are buying one.
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