1876 Trade Dollar - 1876 Trade $1, PCGS PF58. Quite pleasing. Occasionally a proof coin enters circulation and winds up with some of the characteristics of a coin that was struck for commercial use. Such is the case with this 1876 proof Trade Dollar. Silvery-rose and tan toning mix to present eye-appealing surfaces, which are clearly original and clean for the grade. The few hairlines and abrasion marks do not distract from the aesthetic quality of the piece. Its devices are lustrous and, of course, fully struck, as expected for a proof coin.
 
William Barber designed the Trade Dollar. The obverse shows a female figure of Liberty holding a LIBERTY inscribed ribbon. She is seated on a bale of cotton tied with ropes. On another ribbon at the foot of the bale is the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. Liberty faces left, perhaps to the Pacific Ocean or China. She wears a beaded coronet similar to the one on the double eagle. In her hand, which is extended, she holds an olive branch, symbol of peace. Behind her left hand is a sheaf of wheat. Around her are thirteen stars interrupted by the olive branch and Liberty head. They are spaced four, two and seven. The date is below the motto. The reverse shows an eagle facing right. In its right talons are three arrows, an error from the heraldic point of view. The left talons hold another olive branch. Around the top border is the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Below the inscription is a banner with the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Below the olive branch and arrows is an inscription 420 GRAINS, 900 FINE. Dentils are around the periphery of both sides, and the edge is reeded.
 
During the late 1860s there was extensive trade between American merchants and China. The Chinese suppliers distrusted paper currency and preferred to receive payment in silver coin. At the time, the Liberty Seated dollar weighed 412.5 grains with 371.25 grains of silver. Thousands of them were exported to the Orient, where most were melted for bullion. Most Chinese merchants preferred the Mexican eight reales, which were slightly heavier and contained slightly more than 377 grains of silver. Chinese bankers and businessmen agreed to take United States silver dollars only at a discount. In order to remedy this situation, Congress, encouraged by the silver-mining interests in the West, felt that a heavier trade or commercial dollar was needed. The result was a Trade Dollar coin containing 378 troy grains of silver, slightly higher than the Mexican coinage.
 
In its population report, PCGS shows 10 1876 Trade Dollars certified at the PR58 grade level.