1877-S US Seated Liberty Trade Dollar, Chopped and Unique

Description

This is an
1877 US Trade Dollar from the San Francisco Mint.
Trade dollars were larger than regular silver dollars for a reason – they were designed to be exported to help expand trade with China, whose merchants wanted silver coins, not gold.  This is a chunky 27 grams of .900 Silver.
When a Trade dollar reaching the ports in China was accepted by a merchant as being full value, the merchant would
chop
the coin, which was to stamp his unique
Chinese character on it. As a coin changed hands from one merchant to another, it could receive a number of different chops from the various merchants. The coins
with such chops have always been an
interesting
but not a well understood group, as they present a problem in terms of how collectors evaluate them.
Each one is unique and carries a bit of history with it..
This is the coin you will receive.  If you want more photos, just ask
I ship USPS
, no international sales, please.