1 Dollar 'Trade Dollar'

Congress authorized the Trade Dollar in 1873 explicitly for commerce with China, where Mexican pesos dominated because merchants weighed coins rather than accepted them at face value. At 27.22 grams, it was heavier than the standard silver dollar specifically to compete on those scales. It worked — briefly. Chinese merchants chop-marked acceptable pieces, and unchopped Trade Dollars are now the exception in circulated grades.

The problem came domestically. Congress made Trade Dollars legal tender up to five dollars, then revoked that status in 1876 while silver prices were falling. Unscrupulous employers paid wages in Trade Dollars at face value; workers couldn't spend them at par. The resulting public outcry was genuine. Legal tender status was never restored, and the series was officially discontinued in 1883 — though proof-only strikes continued through 1885.