Until very recently, the U.S Dollar has been the world’s leading currency.  But that wasn’t always the case.

When the U.S. began doing more trade with Asia in the late 19th-century, the Chinese  preferred the Mexican peso over the U.S. silver dollar because the peso contained more silver – 416 grains versus 412.5 grains.

To conduct business in the Far East, American traders had to exchange their silver dollars for pesos, and then pay a commission for the exchange.

By 1873, the situation had become irksome enough for Congress to pass the Coinage Act of 1873, which authorized the issuance of a new silver dollar that would weigh 420 grains.  Called the U.S. Trade Dollar, it was designed by William Barber and replaced the Seated Liberty Silver Dollar.

The obverse of the coin shows Lady Liberty seated on a bale of cotton in front of a sheaf of wheat.  This not-so-subtle imagery showcased America’s leading crops, and the olive branch in her hand was a gesture of peace.  Liberty faces left, or west, another nod to Asian interests.

To advertise the new dollar’s more generous silver content, the term “420 Grains .900 Fine” is inscribed on the reverse below an eagle clutching a brace of arrows and another olive branch.

Most of the Trade Dollars produced between 1873 and 1875 were circulated in China, where they were an immediate hit.  The coin became the official Chinese trade coin, ousting the Mexican peso once and for all.

Many coins from that period have an Asian chop mark used to verify its authenticity.  Depending on the rareness of the chop mark, this can either add or subtract from their value.

The Comstock Load of 1859 had produced more than $400 million dollars worth of gold and silver.  And silver miners began dumping it into U.S. markets.  By 1876, the price of silver had dropped so far that the silver in the Trade Dollar was barely worth 80 cents.

Most of the coins came back to America where they could at least be traded at face value.  But because the bullion in the coins was worth significantly less, many people were duped by swindlers who bought the coins at bullion prices and then used them as dollars to buy goods or pay workers.

Commercial production of Trade Dollars stopped in 1878, but production of proof coins for collectors was begun in 1879.  These coins were produced in very small quantities.  There were only ten in 1884 and five in 1885.

Produced on the sly, their existence was unknown until 1908.  Consequently, they are some of the rarest U.S. coins in existence.

In 1887, the United States Treasury agreed to redeem non-mutilated trade dollars and more than 8 million were turned in.

Just how valuable are these coins?  In January of 2006, an 1885 PF-66 sold for $3.3 million.

Read more about collecting silver dollars here.

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One of the best loved and most collected American coins, the Morgan Silver Dollar has a fascinating history.

The Comstock Load from Virginia City, Nevada, was first made public in 1859.  It produced more than $400 million dollars worth of silver and gold, and drove the price of silver way down.

So much so that in 1878, the Bland-Allison Act required the U.S. Treasury to purchase $2 to $4 million worth of silver bullion each month to convert into coins.

The Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint, George T. Morgan, designed what is now known as the Morgan Silver Dollar.   The elegance and timelessness of the design has made it one of the most popular American coins.  And today, Morgan Silver Dollars run the gamut from affordable to extremely valuable.

In 1890, the Hayes Administration passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which set the monthly commitment at $4.5 million.  Treasury Bills that could be redeemed for either gold or silver were used for the purchase.

So many bond holders redeemed their notes for gold that the Treasury’s reserves were seriously depleted, and financial panic ensued.  In 1893, the Sherman Act was repealed and production of silver dollars slowed dramatically.

Once the bullion supply for silver dollars basically ran out in 1904, minting of silver dollars ceased.

The Pittman Act of 1918 required the government to convert silver dollars into bullion and then create an equal number of new coins from the bullion.  More than 270 million silver dollars were melted down.

To comply with the Pittman Act, production of the Morgan Silver Dollar resumed in 1921 for a brief period of time.  You’d think that would be the end of the story, but it’s not.

The Silver Act of 1942 resulted in the melting down of even more Morgan Silver Dollars.  In fact, it’s estimated that more than 80% of the Morgan Silver Dollars that were produced are no longer in existence.  That’s why even coins with an original issue of over one million can still be valuable.

In 1962, with a surplus of silver dollars on their hands, the U.S. government began selling original Treasury bags containing 1,000 silver dollars for face value.   News stories about rare coins being included in the bags reignited interest in collecting Morgan Silver Dollars.

But when lots of the formerly rare uncirculated 1903-O coins were released, their value went from $500 to $35 in a matter of months.

During the early 1970s, the General Services Administration packaged and sold off most of the remaining government-owned Morgans, many of which were minted in Carson City.  Morgan Silver Dollars in the original GSA packaging are very collectible.

Probably the most valuable Morgan Silver Dollar is the 1893 proof minted in San Francisco, which is worth more than $1 million.  The 1893-O proof is worth more than $300,000.  The 1895-O and 1896-O MS-67s are worth around half a million.Other sought-after coins include anything minted in Carson City, especially 1889 – which is worth about $500,000 – and the 1892, 1895, 1903, and 1904 coins from San Francisco.

Read more about Peace silver dollars here.

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Although the Massachusetts Bay Colony began issuing paper money in 1690, the British Currency Act of 1764 made it illegal for any of the colonies to print their own money.

As a result, many foreign currencies were circulated in America prior to the Revolutionary War.   Coins from Europe, especially the Spanish silver dollars known as “pieces of eight,”  were relatively common.   And these coins, minted in Mexico from Central and South American silver, were legal tender in the United States until 1857.

The British Currency Act also required colonists to pay their taxes to Britain in gold or silver, a hardship which contributed to the unrest that led to the war.   By 1774, the colonists were dumping tea in Boston harbor.  And by 1775, the Continental Congress began issuing paper money — the Continental — in order to finance the war.

Because of public and political mistrust of paper money — even Jefferson went on record against it — and the absence of solid financial backing, the Continental was never widely adopted.  The French promised to send silver bullion for the production of American coins, and printing of the one-dollar notes ceased.

But the bullion never arrived from France.   And in 1776, the Continental Congress authorized production of the first silver coin.  The financial strain of the war sidelined the initiative and a circulating silver coin was not produced at that time.

During the 1780s, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, and Connecticut were all producing copper coins.   By 1792, the currency situation in the newly formed states was a disaster.  So one of Congress’s first orders of business was tackling it.

The Coinage Act of 1792 authorized a salary for the Director of the Mint and established standards for new coins, such as inclusion of the words “United States of America” and the year of the coinage.  The first stone was laid for the first American mint that summer in Philadelphia.

Without a steady supply of bullion, coin production and circulation was spotty.   But on October 15, 1794, the Mint released the first 1,758 U.S. silver dollars.   The silver dollars minted between 1794 and 1795 are known as the Flowing Hair variety.  Those produced between 1795 and 1804 are the Draped Bust variety.

They were produced in varying quantities until 1806 when President Thomas Jefferson suspended production.

Since 1794, the United States has produced five other silver dollars: The 1804 Silver Dollar — one of the rarest coins in the world, the Seated Liberty Silver Dollar, the Trade Dollar, the Morgan Silver Dollar, and the Peace Dollar.

Read more about U.S. Trade silver dollars here.

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