Lot 927
1883. NGC graded Proof 63 Cameo. A glittering totally white Cameo Proof. Popular Proof-only date with only 979 struck. Silver Dollars had never been popular with Easterners, who preferred paper money in their pockets. Still, the Mint kept right on striking them. That is, they were made annually until 1873, when Congress passed the Act of 1873 demonetizing Silver Dollars (at the time, Seated Dollars). Instead, a new Trade Dollar was introduced. The Trade Dollar was intended to circulate in the Far East, specifically in the China trade, which then was burgeoning.
However, profit-seeking individuals soon began to buy them up at their bullion value. (Since Trade Dollars had never been monetized they could not technically be placed into circulation in the States.) They sold them to jobbers who in turn wholesaled them to employers. The employers passed them off on their employees, making a small, but useful profit on the transaction! Imagine the uproar that would ensue if your employer were to pay your wages in, say, unspendable Canadian dollars, and you get some idea of the trouble US Trade Dollars caused. Congress elected to clean up the mess, but only in 1887 when it canceled the issue's authorization and ceased production. Between 1879 and 1883, only Proof Trade Dollars were minted. These were included in the Proof Sets each year, with additional coins sold individually to collectors. Pop 17; 63 finer.
Estimated Value $2,100 - 2,200.
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| Realized $2,703 |
