In September 1927, Hawaii Governor, Wallace R. Farrington, set sail for Washington, DC to meet with staff of the United States ("US") Treasury Department to present the drawn designs of the commemorative coin and stamps that the US island territory hoped to secure for the 150th Anniversary of Captain James Cook's sighting of and landing on what would become Hawaii in January 1778; he went ashore on the island of Kaua'i.
The designs had been prepared by Juliette May Fraser , "one of the island's foremost exponents of Hawaiian art expression." (
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 21, 1927). In addition to the coin designs, Fraser had prepared designs for two different one-cent stamps, a two-cent stamp and a five-cent stamp.
Hawaiian Sesquicentennial Draft Coin and Stamp Designs
(Image Credit: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 21, 1927. Public Domain.)Other agenda items of Governor Farrington included asking the US State Department to invite Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to participate in the Cook anniversary celebrations. In addition, the US and Great Britain were to be asked to send warships to participate. The US sent the battleship USS
Pennsylvania, Australia sent the cruiser HMS
Brisbane, New Zealand sent the cruiser HMS
Dunedin and Great Britain sent the cruiser HMS
Cornwall[/i].
The Sesquicentennial Celebration was held August 13 through 20, 1928.
Ultimately, Congress authorized the commemorative half dollar but not the proposed commemorative stamps. Instead, regular issue two-cent and five-cent US stamps were overprinted with "HAWAII" / "1778 - 1928".
1928 US Regular Issue Stamps Overprinted for Hawaii Sesquicentennial
1928 Hawaiian (European) Discovery Sesquicentennial
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more stories about the Hawaiian half dollar, see: Commems Collection.
Posted 09/08/2025 4:23 pm
