The dollar or dala was the spelling used at the time, though during the preparations for minting

Edward Preston Edward Preston (17 February 1831 – 17 January 1890) was a lawyer and judge originally from England who served in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Early life Edward Preston was born 17 February 1831 in London, England. In 1852 he sailed to Melbourne, A ...

asked

Claus Spreckels Adolph Claus J. Spreckels (July 9, 1828 – December 26, 1908) (his last name has also been misspelled as Spreckles) was a major industrialist in Hawai'i during the kingdom, republican and territorial periods of the islands' history. He also i ...

whether to spell it or . . The spelling in the modern Hawaiian alphabet would be . See was the currency of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

between 1847 and 1898. It was equal to the

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

and was divided into 100 ''cents'' or ''keneta''. Only sporadic issues were made, which circulated alongside United States currency.

Coins

The first official coinage issued by the Kingdom of Hawai'i was in 1847. This coin was a copper cent bearing the portrait of King Kamehameha III on its obverse. The King Kamehameha III copper cent proved to be unpopular due to the King's portrait being of poor quality. Although it is claimed the denomination was misspelled (''hapa haneri'' instead of ''hapa haneli''), the spelling "Hapa Haneri" was correct until the end the 19th century. The spelling "Haneri" (Hawaiian for "Hundred") appears on all and Hawaiian bank notes in circulation between 1879 and 1900. In 1883, Kingdom of Hawai'i official silver coinage were issued in the denominations of one dime (''umi keneta'' in Hawaiian), quarter dollar (''hapaha''), half dollar (''hapalua'') and one dollar (''akahi dala''). 26 proof sets were struck by the

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national ...

and contained the umi keneta, hapaha, hapalua, and akahi dala. 20 proof specimens in the denomination of an eighth dollar (''hapawalu'') were also struck. The Kingdom of Hawai'i desired to conform to the United States silver coinage denominations and selected the umi keneta over the hapawalu. The silver coins issued for circulation in the Kingdom was struck by the San Francisco Mint. Hawaiian coins continued to circulate for several years after the 1898 annexation to the United States. In 1903, an act of Congress demonetized Hawaiian coins, and most were withdrawn and melted, with a sizable percentage of surviving examples made into jewelry. Following melting, the maximum number of each circulating coin that could possibly exist is as follows: * Umi Keneta: 249,921 * Hapaha: 242,600 * Hapalua: 87,700 * Akahi Dala: 46,300

Banknotes

In 1879, the Department of Finance issued Hawaii's first paper money, silver coin deposit certificates for , , and . However, these notes were issued only in small numbers and US notes made up the bulk of circulating paper money. From 1884, only US gold coins were legal tender for amounts over . In 1897, the Republic of Hawaii issued silver coin deposit certificates for , , , and . In 1899, banknotes backed by gold deposits were issued in the same denominations. All Hawaiian notes, especially the gold certificates, are extremely rare today.

References

* * Medcalf, Donald & Ronald Russell (1991). ''Hawaiian Money: Standard Catalog: Second Edition''. Honolulu: Nani Stamp & Coin LTD. . *

External links

Hawaii Paper Money
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawaiian Dollar Modern obsolete currencies Economy of Hawaii 1847 establishments in Hawaii 1898 disestablishments in Hawaii 19th-century economic history 1847 introductions

Coins

Banknotes

See also

References

External links