1 Dollar British Trade Dollar

Originally known as the "British Dollar", these coins were first produced in 1895 in response to a request from the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce (with support from the Straits Settlements) for coins to replace the increasingly scarce Mexican silver peso (known in English as the Mexican "dollar") which formed the basis for the currency in those colonies and other parts of East Asia. The coins were struck, predominantly in India, to a standard slightly below that of the peso (416 grains, .900 fine, as used for the Hong Kong dollars of the 1860s) but were authorized to circulate in Hong Kong, the Straits Settlements and Labuan alongside the Mexican peso. From the outset, it was anticipated that these coins would circulate beyond these colonies, and it soon became known as the "British Trade Dollar". See the 1894 Royal Mint Report for more details.

In 1903, a new dollar coin was introduced to the Straits Settlements. This was struck to the same standard as the British trade dollar and replaced it in circulation. Labuan's adoption of the Straits dollar in 1905 left Hong Kong as the only British colony using these coins. By the late 1920s, the chief use of British trade dollars in Hong Kong was to act as collateral for the notes issued by Hong Kong's banks. In December 1935, Hong Kong left the silver standard, and the government issued legal-tender dollar notes to replace the coins. Production of the British trade dollar ceased, and almost all 1935-dated coins were melted.

British trade dollars never circulated in the United Kingdom and never had a fixed value in sterling. The face value given here, 2 shillings 4 pence, is the value at which the Straits dollar was fixed in 1906, when that colony left the silver standard. It has been chosen as a representative exchange rate, but it must be recognized that, with the price of silver bullion varying between 1 shilling and 7 shillings 5½ pence per troy ounce, the British trade dollar's sterling value varied over the period of its production between 9.4 pence (in 1931) and 5 shillings 9.8 pence (in 1920).

The reverse design incorporated the denomination in Chinese characters and Malay script (often found with chop marks which do not detract from the value - see below).

Struck at three separate mints as follows:



Mintage figures quoted include all varieties for the given mint and year.

A limited number of gold proof restrikes were produced from the original dies, but it is not known when or by whom.

For further details and forum discussion on the numerous forgeries of this coin, please read here.