1 Trade Dollar - Meiji

Japan's Trade Dollar was struck specifically to compete with the Mexican peso and other silver trade coins dominating commerce across East and Southeast Asia. The Osaka Mint had only opened in 1871 with British technical assistance — machinery, assayers, and the chief engraver all imported — and the Trade Dollar was among its most ambitious early undertakings. Production ran just three years before the type was abandoned, as Japanese merchants and foreign trading houses alike continued preferring the entrenched Mexican coin.

The series never gained meaningful traction in the ports it was designed to serve.