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Trade dollar
Trade dollars were silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with countries in East Asia, especially China and Japan. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar, which had set the standard for a de facto common currency for trade in the Far East.
The existence of trade dollars came about because of the popularity of the silver Spanish dollar in the Far East, such as in China, East Asia, and the East Indies. Following the establishment of Spanish Philippines, Manila (in the modern area of Intramuros) became an entrepôt for Chinese goods in one direction and Spanish silver dollar, from across the Pacific to the Spanish-held mints and silver mines of Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, in the other. The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, led from the 16th Century onwards to the wide circulation of "pieces of eight" as a standard of trade in the Far East.
The high regard in which these coins came to be held, led to the minting of the silver Chinese yuan, a coin designed to resemble the Spanish one. These Chinese "dragon dollars" not only circulated in China, but together with original coins of Spanish-Mexican origin became the preferred currency of trade between China and its neighbours. Defeated in the First Opium War, China was forced to open its ports to foreign trade, and in the late half of the 19th Century Western nations trading with China found it cheaper and more expedient to mint their own coins, from their own supplies of silver, than to continue to use coins from Mexican sources. These so-called trade dollars would approximate in specification, weight 7 mace and 2 candareens (approx. 27.2 grams; 7⁄8 troy ounce) and fineness .900 (90%), the Spanish-Mexican coins so long trusted and valued in China.
To control the money supply in French Indochina in 1885, the French introduced a new silver Piastre de commerce and associated subsidiary coinage throughout the entire Indo-Chinese colonies in order to increase monetary stability. The piastre was initially equivalent to the Mexican peso. The piastre was therefore a direct lineal descendant of the Spanish pieces of eight that had been brought to the Orient from Mexico on the Manila Galleons. It was initially on a silver standard of 1 piastre = 24.4935 grams pure silver. This was reduced to 24.3 grams in 1895.
The Japanese Trade Dollar was a dollar coin, issued from 1875 to 1877. It was minted of 27.22 g of silver with a fineness of .900 (90%). The Yen coin had 26.96 g of silver at that time, and otherwise nearly identical in design to the trade dollar.
2,736,000 coins of this type were minted, the vast majority in 1876-77. When Japan introduced the gold standard in 1897, the silver 1 yen coins, including the trade dollars, were demonetized. The majority of the trade dollars were counterstamped with the character "gin" (Japanese for "silver"). The Osaka mint placed the mark on the left side of the reverse, the Tokyo mint on the right. The coins were then released for use in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, Korea and Lüshunkou.
With the extension of British trading interests in the East, especially after the founding of Singapore in 1819 and Hong Kong in 1842, it became necessary to produce a special dollar so as to remove the reliance of a British Colony upon the various foreign coins then in circulation.
"China trade silver dollars" were a direct result of the First (1839–1842) and Second Opium War (1856–1860), which broke out when Chinese authorities tried to stop Britain from smuggling opium into the country. The loser, China, had to open up a number of ports to British trade and residence, and cede Hong Kong to Britain. In the decades that followed, merchants and adventurers flocked to these areas, and international trade flourished. Foreign banks were established and large silver coins from all over the world began arriving to pay for tea, silk and Chinese porcelain to be shipped abroad. These .900 fine silver trade dollars were then circulated throughout China, where they were readily accepted as a medium of exchange. The British trade dollar, minted exclusively for use in the Far East, depicts Britannia standing on the shore, holding a trident in one hand and balancing a British shield in the other, with a merchant ship under full sail in the background. On the reverse is an arabesque design with the Chinese symbol for longevity in the center, and the denomination in two languages – Chinese and Jawi Malay.
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Trade dollar
Trade dollars were silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with countries in East Asia, especially China and Japan. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar, which had set the standard for a de facto common currency for trade in the Far East.
The existence of trade dollars came about because of the popularity of the silver Spanish dollar in the Far East, such as in China, East Asia, and the East Indies. Following the establishment of Spanish Philippines, Manila (in the modern area of Intramuros) became an entrepôt for Chinese goods in one direction and Spanish silver dollar, from across the Pacific to the Spanish-held mints and silver mines of Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia, in the other. The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, led from the 16th Century onwards to the wide circulation of "pieces of eight" as a standard of trade in the Far East.
The high regard in which these coins came to be held, led to the minting of the silver Chinese yuan, a coin designed to resemble the Spanish one. These Chinese "dragon dollars" not only circulated in China, but together with original coins of Spanish-Mexican origin became the preferred currency of trade between China and its neighbours. Defeated in the First Opium War, China was forced to open its ports to foreign trade, and in the late half of the 19th Century Western nations trading with China found it cheaper and more expedient to mint their own coins, from their own supplies of silver, than to continue to use coins from Mexican sources. These so-called trade dollars would approximate in specification, weight 7 mace and 2 candareens (approx. 27.2 grams; 7⁄8 troy ounce) and fineness .900 (90%), the Spanish-Mexican coins so long trusted and valued in China.
To control the money supply in French Indochina in 1885, the French introduced a new silver Piastre de commerce and associated subsidiary coinage throughout the entire Indo-Chinese colonies in order to increase monetary stability. The piastre was initially equivalent to the Mexican peso. The piastre was therefore a direct lineal descendant of the Spanish pieces of eight that had been brought to the Orient from Mexico on the Manila Galleons. It was initially on a silver standard of 1 piastre = 24.4935 grams pure silver. This was reduced to 24.3 grams in 1895.
The Japanese Trade Dollar was a dollar coin, issued from 1875 to 1877. It was minted of 27.22 g of silver with a fineness of .900 (90%). The Yen coin had 26.96 g of silver at that time, and otherwise nearly identical in design to the trade dollar.
2,736,000 coins of this type were minted, the vast majority in 1876-77. When Japan introduced the gold standard in 1897, the silver 1 yen coins, including the trade dollars, were demonetized. The majority of the trade dollars were counterstamped with the character "gin" (Japanese for "silver"). The Osaka mint placed the mark on the left side of the reverse, the Tokyo mint on the right. The coins were then released for use in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, Korea and Lüshunkou.
With the extension of British trading interests in the East, especially after the founding of Singapore in 1819 and Hong Kong in 1842, it became necessary to produce a special dollar so as to remove the reliance of a British Colony upon the various foreign coins then in circulation.
"China trade silver dollars" were a direct result of the First (1839–1842) and Second Opium War (1856–1860), which broke out when Chinese authorities tried to stop Britain from smuggling opium into the country. The loser, China, had to open up a number of ports to British trade and residence, and cede Hong Kong to Britain. In the decades that followed, merchants and adventurers flocked to these areas, and international trade flourished. Foreign banks were established and large silver coins from all over the world began arriving to pay for tea, silk and Chinese porcelain to be shipped abroad. These .900 fine silver trade dollars were then circulated throughout China, where they were readily accepted as a medium of exchange. The British trade dollar, minted exclusively for use in the Far East, depicts Britannia standing on the shore, holding a trident in one hand and balancing a British shield in the other, with a merchant ship under full sail in the background. On the reverse is an arabesque design with the Chinese symbol for longevity in the center, and the denomination in two languages – Chinese and Jawi Malay.