Is There Even a Single Bargain Among Trade Dollars?

The United States’ short-lived foray into a large, silver trade dollar lasted from 1873 to 1878, as far as circulating coins were concerned. Designed to be shipped to the Pacific Rim for use as a source of silver, many of them returned, some with Chinese countermarks on them, called chop marks. Many of those that did make it back, with or without such marks, ended up being melted. This makes collecting U.S. Trade dollars a bit more of a challenge today than many other coins, simply because we can’t be entirely sure if the mintages match up with the surviving coins.