Lot 991
1877-S. PCGS graded MS-65. Bright white frost. Well struck and lustrous with exceptional surfaces, grand eye-appeal, and refreshing originality. Unlike the general run of Trade Dollars of this caliber which tended to be baggy and the strike uneven, the strike on this shimmering 1877-S is thoroughly convincing in all places, even where some weakness is usually found at Liberty’s head and the eagle’s legs. Full cartwheel spin makes the luster even more impressive.
According to Neil Carothers, pp.275-6, "By the definition of fractional currency in the first chapter the trade dollar and the standard silver dollar are excluded from the category of fractional silver coins. The history of these two coins in the years after 1873 might well be omitted, were it not for the fact that legislation made these two coins hybrids, neither standard money nor yet subsidiary, but invested with the qualities of both types of money. The history of the two coins is a part of the record of our subsidiary coins.
"It will be recalled that the trade dollar was created by the law of 1873 ostensibly as a convenient coin for trade with the Orient. [Deputy Controller of the Currency John Jay] Knox had in his original bill proposed to make the standard silver dollar subsidiary. When the critics objected, Knox dropped the silver dollar entirely and in his report suggested the possibility of a trade dollar, a coin recommended by Linderman as a substitute for the Mexican dollars used in payments to China. The trade coin section was interpolated into the bill more than two years later, just before the measure was passed, in response to pressure by the silver interests.
"The piece was to weigh 420 grains, 9/10 fine, so that it would have a pure silver content of 378 grains, about 2 per cent above the amount in the standard dollar. It was to have free coinage, in the sense that any one could present bullion to the mint for conversion into trade dollars. Provision was made for a coinage charge equal to the costs of minting. The coin was made legal tender in payments to $5." Pop 27; 8 finer, 1 in 65+, 6 in 66, 1 in 67. (PCGS # 7046) .
Estimated Value $8,500 - 9,000.
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