Commems Collection Classic: 1928 Hawaiian Discovery Sesquicentennial - Revisited

The first commemorative coin I presented here on CCF (back in March 2012) was the 1928 Hawaiian, a half-dollar issued to mark the 150th anniversary of the "discovery" of the Hawaiian Islands by Captain James Cook, the noted British explorer. It was a relatively brief post, unlike most of my later discussions of the classic commemorative series. So, I thought I'd revisit the Hawaiian and ramble on a bit about the discussions that took place in Congress regarding the coin.

In late 1927, Victor Stewart Kaleoaloha Houston, House Representative from the Territory of Hawaii introduced a bill proposing a half-dollar coin to mark the sesquicentennial of the discovery of Hawaii. The proposed coin was referred to the House Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures in January 1928.

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Prior to the Committee meeting to discuss the coin, its Chairman, Randolph Perkins (R-NJ), sent the bill to the Treasury Department to seek their opinion of the coin. Much to the surprise of Representative Perkins and others on the Committee, Andrew Mellon, the Secretary of the Treasury, replied that the "department would interpose no objection to the enactment of this legislation." It's important to note, that by 1928 the Treasury's opposition to special commemorative coins had grown to the point that they were generally opposed to all such coins.

Representative Ole Juulson Kvale (Farmer-Labor-MN) was one of the Committee members who expressed surprise that the Treasury did not object to the bill. He commented, "I am very much interested in learning what powers of persuasion have been exercised by the gentlemen from Hawaii to bring out such a favorable report. The reason I ask is that three years ago this month I endeavored to be spokesman for two and half million of the best citizens of the United States in the interest of a bill of this kind, and I did not even get so far as to introduce the bill because the gentlemen in the Treasury Department told me they would oppose anything of the kind. So I acquiesced in their demand and introduced the bill for a medal instead of a coin. This is not at all as satisfactory as a coin." Representative Kvale was referring to his bill for what became the 1925 Norse-American Centennial medal (vs. a coin).

After further discussion, including statements by Representative Houston that he did not engage in any special lobbying efforts for the coin with the Treasury, Representative Perkins sent a request to Secretary Mellon asking for the reasons behind the lack of opposition. The first reason the Secretary gave in his written response was that "the proposed coin is for a Territorial government enterprise. It is sponsored entirely by the Territorial government of Hawaii." He contrasted this with the private, non-governmental organizations that were typically associated with such special coins.

He also remarked that "a special coin would seem to be a well-merited recognition of their [Hawaii's] interest and loyalty to our government." Secretary Mellon also went on to comment that the number of coins requested by the bill - 10,000 - was a small enough number to ensure that the coins would be kept as souvenirs and not be dumped into circulation; the placing of commemorative coins into circulation was a big issue for the Treasury.

And so, the Hawaii Sesquicentennial commemorative bill was reported out of Committee favorably and would go on to passed by Congress and signed into law by Calvin Coolidge. It would be the last US commemorative coin signed into law until 1934.

Thanks for reading!


1928 Discovery of Hawaii Sesquicentennial - Obverse




1928 Discovery of Hawaii Sesquicentennial - Reverse