Rusty 1873 Trade Dollar found in Micronesia - Estimate?

@CaptHenway said:
A crude counterfeit of no value.

I agree with most of that. I would probably pay $5-10 as a curiosity.

Howdy, I have spent a bunch of time in Micronesia, mostly on Pohnpei. Nan Madol is one of the wonders of the world that nobody knows about. That is most likely a fake but there is a small chance it is a ground dug find since the pictures are so bad. Most it is worth is 40$ if it is, 5$ if it is fake and those are retail values. A dealer would give 0 or 15$. Not worth much trouble either way

Keep your speargun.

Could I please see a pic of your speargun inorder to make a proper decision

Bogus. Shop it around bourse find out.

Value = zero.

@alefzero said:
Yeah, Trade dollars are probably the most counterfeited coin series. Acquiring them raw is walking into a numismatic minefield.

Absolutely.

@CaptHenway said:
Look at the crude and oversized last digit in the date. If anyone still thinks it has a chance of being genuine, I would like to sell you the bridge that connects Micronesia with Bali Hai!

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I think the last digit looks plausible for a genuine 1873 Trade $.

But the pictures are way too poor to judge with any real confidence.
The obverse ribbon ends appear to indicate that it might be a "Type-2" obverse,
And if that is what it has, then it would be no good since 1876 was the first year for that Type-2 obverse.

Also, it can't be a legitimate 1878 because those only come with the "Type-2" reverse and that one is definitely a "Type-1" reverse.

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Gawd, I hope it's not the centerpiece of anything 🤓

Might be a metal detecting coin as well, jmo

Don't get discouraged these guys are trying to help you out.
Don't get screwed.

@CaptHenway said:
Look at the crude and oversized last digit in the date. If anyone still thinks it has a chance of being genuine, I would like to sell you the bridge that connects Micronesia with Bali Hai!

Do you accept trade dollars?

@dcarr said:

@CaptHenway said:
Look at the crude and oversized last digit in the date. If anyone still thinks it has a chance of being genuine, I would like to sell you the bridge that connects Micronesia with Bali Hai!

.

I think the last digit looks plausible for a genuine 1873 Trade $.

But the pictures are way too poor to judge with any real confidence.
The obverse ribbon ends appear to indicate that it might be a "Type-2" obverse,
And if that is what it has, then it would be no good since 1876 was the first year for that Type-2 obverse.

Also, it can't be a legitimate 1878 because those only come with the "Type-2" reverse and that one is definitely a "Type-1" reverse.

.

OP says 1873 and while it looks like an 8 with a type one rev I assume the OP can see it better than those photos. It’s most likely fake but nobody! can know anything for sure form those photos

If it were real, I would buy it for $15.

The high, thin rims are also a characteristic of some of these fakes. Possibly an artificial aging gone wrong led to the heavily corroded look.

@telephoto1 said:
This is what nickel looks like when it's been in the ground for a long time. Given that and the granularity I theorize a contemporary Asian made nickel or nickel composite fake that was at one time silver washed. Contemporary fakes were the reason that the Trade Dollar was temporarily demonetized so it a seems logical theory, particularly given location of the find.

Do you have a source regarding contemporary counterfeits being the cause for demonetization? This is the first I've heard of that. Most sources report that it was domestic issues that caused demonetization; issues such workers being paid in trade dollars but being unable to spend them at face value and people buying them at a discount below $1 and redeeming for face value.

It was always my understanding that the Trade Dollar was demonetized because it reached the point where the silver was worth more than a dollar.

Don’t trade your spear gun. Come home and buy a collectible trade dollar if you still want one.

@JCH22 said:

@JBK said:
It was always my understanding that the Trade Dollar was demonetized because it reached the point where the silver was worth more than a dollar.

Correct--as summarized in the below link ( pg38) Exceeded the weight of standard silver dollar (p. 37).

https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/information-respecting-united-states-bonds-paper-currency-coin-production-precious-metals-etc-828

Debates/Joint Congressional resolution which the above references are also searchable.

This isn’t the whole story, they were first demonetized in 1876 because the price of silver collapsed and they didn’t want them exported back to US for dollars when they were worth 60c of silver.