2020-08-01 Sat

The Kalakaua coinage is a set of silver coins of the Kingdom of Hawaii dated 1883. In 1883, the Kingdom of Hawai'i official silver coinage was issued in the denominations of one dime (Umi keneta in Hawaiian), quarter dollar (hapaha), half a dollar (hapalua) and one dollar (akahi dala).

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. No immediate action had been taken after the 1880 act authorizing coins, but King Kalakaua was interested and government officials saw a way to get out of a financial bind by getting coins issued in exchange for government bonds.

They were designed by Charles E. Barber, Chief Engraver of the United States Bureau of the Mint, and were struck at the San Francisco Mint. The coins met a hostile reception from the business community in Honolulu, who feared inflation of the currency in a time of recession. After legal maneuvering, they remained in the circulation until withdrawn in 1903, after Hawaii had become a US territory.

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia