History
The first Niagara Falls trade dollar, released in 1977, was made from nickel. This trade dollar featured the City of Niagara Falls crest on one side and a picture of the falls with a boat on the other side of the coin.
Composition
From 1977 to 1980 the Niagara Falls trade dollar was made from nickel. In 1981, the city began producing the coin using nickel-bonded steel in order to reduce manufacturing costs.
Types
In 1979 the city started issuing two versions of the Niagara Falls trade dollar each year. The images on the coin remained the same for each version of the coin but the second coin was gold-plated. The city issued a gold-plated version to increase the coin's popularity with coin collectors.