2022-10-18 Tue

George William De Saulles designed British trade Dollar which was minted from 1895 for Hong Kong and the Straits Settlements. In 1903, the Straits dollar was introduced to the Straits Settlements. In 1935, Hong Kong coin was introduced. Those coins had mint mark ‘B’ were produced at the Bombay Mint; others, marked ‘C’, were struck in Calcutta. Those with no mint mark were produced in London.

The ‘C’ mint mark can be found in the ground between the left foot of Britannia and the base of the shield, while the ‘B’ mint mark is located in the centre prong of the trident.

It is interesting to note that 1921-B dollar was struck but never released for circulation but 1934-B and 1935-B coins were released in limited numbers only.

Trade Dollar was silver coins minted for trade purpose in Oriental countries. Their weight and appearance are similar to the Spanish Dollar which was standard trade currency for Far East countries.

In order to remove the reliance of a British Colony upon the various foreign coins then in circulation, the British introduced trade Dollar to run its rule smoothly.

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia.com