Saturday, April 26, 2008

Hawaiian dollar
The dollar or dala was the currency of Hawaii between 1847 and 1898. It was equal to the US dollar and was divided into 100 cents or keneta. Only sporadic issues were made which circulated alongside US currency.
Hawaii's first coins were issued in 1847. They were copper cents bearing the portrait of King Kamehameha III. The coins proved unpopular due to the poor quality portrait of the king and the misspelling of the denomination (hapa haneri instead of hapa heneli).
In 1883, silver coins were issued in denominations of one dime (umi keneta in Hawaiian), quarter dollar (hapaha), half dollar (hapalua) and one dollar (akahi dala). These coins, which pictured the then-King David Kalakaua, were minted in San Francisco to the same specifications as the US coins and circulated beyond the US annexation in 1898. Eventually, many of these coins were melted down and they are consequently rare today.
In 1895, the newly formed Republic of Hawaii issued both gold and silver coin deposit certificates for $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. These were the last Hawaiian notes and all are extremely rare today.

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