Page 28 - Chinese SIlver By Adrien Von Ferscht

barley - Troy being the official weight for many European countries and in England from
1527. The fineness was .903 silver.

1776 8 Reales Charles III trade dollar known as the “Carolus” dollar

Immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, the trade dollar, known
affectionately as the Carolus dollar, became the preferred payment method and often was
considered to have a premium value up to 15% above its prevailing silver content value.

The American trade dollar was first issued in 1873 and was minted in large quantities at
the Carson City, San Francisco and Philadelphia mints. It was never intended for
circulation within America and was to be used in competition with the Mexican trade dollar
for trade with China. It was issued as 420 grains, the same as the Mexican dollar but set it
apart from the regular standard silver dollar which had 412.5 grains. It is believed that
some 36 million trade dollar coins were minted, the American government receiving a 100
cent levy on every coin issued. The fineness of the US trade dollar was .900 [90%],
approximately 8 grains more than the the domestic silver dollar and 4 more than the Peso.

Because of an an ever-growing demand for tea and other luxury goods in the United
Kingdom and America and an insistence of only silver in payment, this resulted in large
continuous trade deficits. A trade imbalance came into being that was highly unfavourable
and intolerable for Britain.

It is estimated approximately 270 million British Trade dollars were circulated in total.
Mercantilist governments resented this perpetual drain of silver from West to East in
payment for Oriental goods that were in high demand in the Occident, while facing low
demand in the Orient for Occidental goods. Also, as a result of the Treaty of Nanking after
the first “Opium War” and 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.

The first British trade dollar was minted in 1895 exclusively for use in the Far East, depicts
Britannia standing on 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