The History of United States Coinage As Illustrated by the Garrett Collection

Coins of Hawaii

Hawaii, the 50th state to be admitted to the Union, has an interesting coinage history. Of particular importance are several issues that were struck in quantity: the cents of 1847 and the coinage of 1883.

In 1847 an agent for the Hawaiian government ordered 100,000 copper cents from a New England coiner. The pieces bore on the obverse the bust of King Kamehameha III and on the reverse a wreath. Despite the intentions of the government the coins did not meet with public favor. In 1862, 15 years after their issue, fewer than 12,000 pieces had been distributed. In 1885 approximately 88,000 coins which remained in the hands of the government were melted for their metal value.

Claus Spreckels, a wealthy Hawaiian landholder and merchant, was responsible for the striking of $1,000,000 face value of 1883-dated Hawaiian coins. The mintage was divided into 250,000 dimes, 500,000 quarter dollars, 700,000 half dollars, and 500,000 silver dollars. Dies bearing the portrait of King Kalakaua I on the obverse and the arms of Hawaii on the reverse were prepared in Philadelphia by Charles Barber. Proofs were struck at the Philadelphia Mint. Coinage for circulation was subsequently effected at the San Francisco Mint, although the coins bore no mintmark.

In 1903 the United States government passed legislation which provided for the redemption of outstanding Hawaiian silver' coins at face value in exchange for United States issues. After January 1, 1904 the pieces ceased to be legal tender. At that time nearly $200,000 face value worth of pieces remained outstanding.

In addition to the regular issues there were a number of Hawaiian pattern issues produced from time to time. In 1881 pattern 5c pieces were made in several varieties. These were produced in Europe on speculation as a proposal for a Hawaiian nickel coinage. Among pattern and trial pieces of 1883 the best known is the hapawalu, or eighth dollar. It was originally intended to include the eighth dollar, or 12V2C piece, as part of the 1883 series, but after dies had been prepared and patterns had been struck it was decided to use the standard 10c piece in conformity with contemporary United States coinage.

In the 1890s Reginald Huth, an English numismatist, produced private pattern coins of beautiful designs depicting Queen Liliuokalani and Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii. These pieces were struck by Pinches & Co., London medallists. These patterns, unofficial in origin, are unsurpassed in their beauty by any of the regular coinage. As such they are favorites with collectors today.

In addition to the aforementioned coins and patterns a wide variety of tokens made an appearance in Hawaii. These are widely collected by numismatists.

Miscellaneous Tokens

During the middle years of the Civil War official United States coins of all copper, silver, and gold denominations were hoarded. To fill the need for circulating change a variety of substitutes appeared, including privately-minted pieces known today as Civil War store cards. Most of these were made of bronze and were of the same diameter as a contemporary Indian cent. Many different designs and advertising inscriptions were used. In addition to store cards, which featured advertisements of merchants, a wide variety of patriotic tokens appeared, most of which referred to one or another aspect of the war.

Encased postage stamps, the invention of J. Gault, were patented in August 1862. Each unit consisted of an official United States postage stamp of a denomination between one cent and ninety cents, encased in a stamped brass frame with a protective clear mica cover. These circulated in 1862 and 1863 and furnished a convenient unit for small transactions. Most issued were of the one-, three-, and five-cent denominations.

The back of each piece bore the inscription of a merchant who purchased advertising space. Gault himself, through his firm Kirkpatrick & Gault, 1 Park Place, New York City, advertised as did many others. Dr. J. c. Ayer, patent medicine promoter from Lowell, Massachusetts, used encased postage stamps to sell his Cathartic Pills and Sarsaparilla. Another prolific advertiser on encased postage stamps was Drake's Plantation Bitters, an alcoholic preparation which was marketed in amber bottles shaped like a log cabin. It is believed that most encased postage stamps were produced by the Scovill Company of Waterbury, Connecticut. Earlier, Scovill was a leading manufacturer of Hard Times tokens.