1879 Trade Dollar - 1879 Trade $1 PCGS PR64. This 1879 proof Trade Dollar has an almost cameo appearance because lustrous light devices are set against darker backgrounds. The rosy-gray devices are outlined in dark tan. The fields are blue-gray with dark tan towards the rim. The coin is well struck with full details on Libertys head, the centers of Stars 3 to 13, and the eagles feathers and legs. The coin is original and clean for the grade with a spot of toning on the eagles wing. A few hairlines are visible in keeping with the grade.

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.
 
From 1873 to 1883, proof Trade Dollars were made to satisfy collector demand. Since the last business strike Trade Dollar was made in 1878, the 1879 is a proof only coin.