What Is a Trade Dollar and Why Do Collectors Want Them? The United States Trade Dollar is one of the most historically layered coins in the American series: created for export, traded through Asia, returned chopmarked and demonetized, and eventually redeemed in controversy. Why Was the Trade Dollar Created? Congress authorized the Trade Dollar in 1873, specifically designed for export to Asian markets, where the U.S. silver dollar was less trusted than the Mexican peso. Th

What Makes California Fractional Gold Valuable? California fractional gold is one of the most fascinating and historically rich areas of American numismatics: tiny privately struck coins from the Gold Rush era. What Is California Fractional Gold? California fractional gold coins are small, privately struck gold coins in denominations of 25 cents, 50 cents, and $1, produced primarily from the 1850s through the 1880s. They were struck by private jewelers and assayers in San