”Blackbirds tend to like shiny things.” ~ The Bloody Raven
In memory of those who blazed the trail for my grandmother and her siblings, my deepest thank you to Ben Dalgleish for this historical treasure.
It may not be pristine, but it is a privilege to be in possession of one these historical pieces of Amerasian history highlighting the formal beginnings of commerce between the old Middle Kingdom of China and the young republic called the United States of America.
The Story of the Ship
February 20th 1865, six weeks before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln approved a bill to establish the Pacific Mail Steam Ship Company as the conduit to formalize trade with China following the completion of the Trans Pacific Railroad. Built in New York, the four ships were commissioned for service between Hong Kong and San Francisco were the SS China, SS Great Republic, SS America, and the SS Japan. In 1868, they were the largest most impressive Sidewheel Steam ships and were the pride of the US.
Pacific Mail Steam Ship Company’s Steamer Japan, built by Henry Steers
San Francisco became the port of entry for an influx of Chinese laborers. These individuals desired a better life forged by their own hands and were attracted by the opportunities that the new country offered. They established Chinatown, worked the mines, build the Central Pacific railroad, worked the Napa Valley grottoes and innumerable infrastructure projects in California.
On November 18th, 1874, the SS Japan departed San Francisco on a routine scheduled voyage en route to Hong Kong China with 425 Chinese Passengers eager to return home after years of labor in California, each person carrying an average of $300 Face value in gold. Also loaded aboard and stowed away in the ship’s 28 x 5 feet treasure tank are 168 Coin boxes with $358,508 in newly minted 1874 Trade Dollars.
1874 CC American Trade Dollar
About midnight on December 17th, 1874, fire broke out in the coal bulkhead located a midships, adjacent to the Treasure tank. The Fire spread quickly from the Coal bulkhead, smoke and flames engulfing the wooden center structures of the SS Japan trapping many aboard. Some managed to get out jumped into the dark violent waters. In about 45 minutes the SS Japan was totally engulfed in flames.
By the next day only 151 crew and passengers survived in lifeboats and the SS Japan lost. A pair of ships from the US’s Navy’s Asian fleet arrived two days later only to find no additional survivors.
1874 CC American Trade Dollar
In January 1875, Hong Kong Underwriters dispatched a Schooner and a Steamer under the command of Captain Roberts. He searched the area for 6 months, and finally in July located the wreck of the SS Japan in under 128 feet of water. Salvage operations ceased in 1877 after about 300,000 coins were recovered leaving the remaining 58,000 unrecoverable and considered lost.
The story of the coin
Fast forward to November 2021, HK Colonial Coins, Ben Dalgleish came across a 54-coin trove of crown sized coins from a Dealer in his network. They were in varying states of poor condition having been exposed to charring, to hostile environmental conditions and sea water for some time. All of them bore the same date of 1874, most were CC for Carson City and 2 were S for the San Francisco mint.
1874 CC American Trade Dollar
As Sherlock Holmes would say, “The game is afoot my dear Watson.”
What was known is that the dealer purchased these in 2007 from an individual from the coastal province of Fujian as Sea Salvage. However, under Chinese law, the finder is required to turn over these findings to the state or face criminal charges. So, it was understandable that the finder chose to forgo disclosing his find to the State and sold them to anyone who are willing to buy it as to avoid prosecution.
With these coins now under Hong Kong's Special administrative jurisdiction the disclosure laws are waived. The drawback is that it would be difficult to attribute these coins to the shipwreck in question. I don’t expect a signed, sealed Certificate of Authentication and a fancy box to put them in. We will have to rely on Ben’s astute investigative skill and numismatic experience to determine them as legitimate.
Mr. Dalgleish makes the following observations;
- The damage is too inconsistent and individual to be done easily.
- They all verify as silver. (Sigma & XRF verified)
- They have no Chop marks.
- The dates and type match the records of what went down with the SS Japan - no other ship went down with similar cargo.
- The other metrics are there - such as they are considering the condition. (Via statistical analysis of physical attributes versus mint specifications.)
- Despite the salvage operation many thousands of dollars were left behind and unrecovered.
- Damage is consistent with the report from the original (1875-1877) salvage divers and operators. (Ref, Sources B1.)
- This wreck is not well known and does not appear in any Chinese literature, numismatic or otherwise until the book was published. (B2, Sources)
- I have not seen other coins with similar damage and type since I have been watching the local and international market closely for the past few years.
- Others have been spotted in the US at coin shows.
These 10 points are explained in fascinating detail and a fine example of exercising due diligence. A good read for those into coin forensics analysis.
The Conclusion:
“Probabilities favor these coins being legitimate trade dollars, with the SS Japan representing a plausible conduit.” ~ Ben Dalgleish
☠️
Latest Update
Since publishing his findings, Ben has been receiving a flurry of interest in his research. The Chinese Archeological Authority in Xiamen university’s, Dr. Wu Chunming and China’s National Center for Archeology’s Xin Guangcan were charged with this project being important enough to have the Xiamen University's Research Ship, the Tan Kah Kee at their disposal.
Also, involved will be U.S. Underwater Archeologist Dr. Jim Delgrado and the National Geographic Society to document this discovery’s historical significance.
And, there’s still a lot of loot out there.
Ben, I’ll expect to see your face on the COINWEEK Magazine cover soon and I’ll want your autograph on an old American Trade Dollar with a few chop marks.
And thank you also to Nyssacat373 for introducing me to Ben and this unremarkable damaged coin that turned out to be a historical and cultural treasure.
Adding another Silver in my Chinese pirate coin styled stack.
Always adding Silver and Crypto to my Stack for the coming dark and stormy night!
The #piratesunday tag is the scurvy scheme of Captain 
Other Shipwreck Silver and related Posts
1986 China 5 Yuan: The Empress of China Commemorative silver coin.
1102-1106 Norther Song Dynasty Shipwreck 10 Cash
2019 Australia One Dollar: The Batavia Shipwreck
The El Cazador’s 1774 Mexican Colonial 2 Reales silver coin.
2019 Gairsoppa 10 troy oz. Shipwreck Silver Bar
References
1. My own pictures shot with a Samsung SM-A530W
Sources
L1. Numista; 1874 CC American Trade Dollar
L2. Pacific Mail Steam Ship Company’s Steamer Japan built by Henry Steers, digital image of the original 1868 Lithograph, Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection, The Bancroft Library UC Berkeley.
L3. Numista forum; SS Japan shipwreck US Trade Dollars hoard 1874 – find of a lifetime or Scam of the century? Solved. By Ben Dalgleish, of Hong Kong Colonial Coins
Video; Pacific Crossings YouTube Video by Robert Wells.
B1. Book 2 Series of; The Boy Travellers in the Far East; Siam & Java , by Thomas W Knox. 1880
B2. Recommended Reading: Voices from the Bottom of the South China Sea story. By Robert Wells. Link
The Tan Kah Kee Research Vessel of Xiamen University.
The background for these photographs is a chart by Rigobert Bonne, a French Cartographer in 1780, Published in “Atlas de Torurtes les Parties Connues du Globe Terrestre, Dresse pour l’Histoire Philosphique & Politique des Establishments & du Commerce des Europeens dan les Deux Indes” by G.T. Raynad. Size 9 ½ x 16 5/8 inches.
“Et lux in tenebris to serve laboro, sum sicarius” “I work in the shadows to serve the Light, I am an Assassin.”