Historical Sketch

The Polynesian settlement of the Hawaiian Islands dates to the 13th century. Different statehoods were established on the islands until 1795 when Kamehameha established a unified kingdom. James Cook is considered the first Europeans to arrive in Hawaii in 1778 (naming them Sandwich Islands after an English nobleman) but no formal claim was made. Since the mid-19th century US American missionaries and businessmen gained more and more influence over the government. The expiry of the Kamehameha dynasty in 1872 the kingship became electoral, and on instigation by foreign business interests, got overthrown in 1893. The same business interests also promoted the United States annexation of 1898 which put an end to the short-lived Republic of Hawaii. In April 1900, Hawaii was constituted a US territory, and in August 1959, it became the 50th federal state.

Monetary History Overview

For half a century, no monetary order was established for the Kingdom of Hawaii. Commercial trade provided for an influx of foreign coinage, mainly from the United States and Great Britain. In the course of the administrative reform of the 1840s, the Hawaiian Dollar was created in April 1846 on par with the US Dollar. Only one subsidiary coin was actually issued, which failed to gain acceptance among the population. Foreign coins continued to dominate the commercial transactions, and in 1876, US gold coins obtained sole legal tender status. An attempt to introduce a Hawaiian coinage was made in 1880 and resulted in a set of silver coins. In December 1884, all other coinage than United States gold an silver and Hawaiian silver got demonetized. In 1879, the Hawaiian government began issuing silver certificates, followed by gold and silver certificates during the short-lived republic, but never saw wide-spread circulation. The US annexation brought the independent Hawaiian currency to an end. The Hawaiian silver coins were withdrawn until end-1903, the silver certificates until end-1904.

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