Silver Ounce 2019 Chinese Trade Dollar, Coin from Saint Helena - detailed information

Saint Helena is a small island in the South Atlantic Ocean which is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The currency of the island is the Saint Helena pound, fixed at parity with the pound sterling. The island has authorised some private mints to issue coins under its jurisdiction, which come in a variety of sizes - including in the popular silver ounce (1 oz silver) format, usually denominated as £1.

The 2019 1 oz Saint Helena Chinese Trade Dollar Silver Coin is part of a range dedicated to "trade dollars" and is inspired by the Chinese Trade Dollar, also known as a Dragon Dollar.

The Mint says about this coin:
The ferocious depiction of a mythical dragon in traditional Chinese style appeared on a new silver Chinese coin in 1889, following the reorganisation of Chinese weights and measures sanctioned by the legendary Empress Dowager Cixi - one of the last empresses of China’s Qing Dynasty - in her quest to modernise China’s economy. Arising from the surge in western merchants looking to trade with China following the opening of Opium Wars, the Chinese Trade Dollar was minted in the same specification as the trusted and preferred Spanish 8 Reales and became commonly known as "silver dragons" or "dragon dollars".

Created by commerce, the silver trade dollars of the Orient became the "calling card" for nations looking to exchange silver bullion for luxuries with the Far East. Beautifully designed and faithfully inspired by the original Trade Dollars of Britain, United States, China, France and Japan, The Trade Dollar collection is a series of five trade dollars struck to the highest proof quality in 1oz gold and 1oz silver weights creating a five coin collection to treasure and collect.