Trade Dollar of the United States Mint was introduced to compete with other silver trade coins that were already circulation in East Asia. The idea came into existence when the silver price began to decline due to increased mining in the 1860s. The first trade dollars were struck in 1873, and the majority of the coins were sent to China. The design of the coin was created by William Barber. In 1876, the coins were demonetized officially but remained in circulation. During the Coinage Act of 1965, the trade dollar was re-monetized. The obverse of the coin featured “Left-facing seated Liberty, who extends her hand, bearing an olive branch, over the sea”. The other side of the coin portraits bald eagle. The ration of metal composition is 9:1 of silver and copper respectively. The edge of the coin is reeded. However, coin demand reduced by the collectors due to a large number of counterfeits exists made with the base metal. Image Courtesy: Wikipedia.com