Classic King ...... 1928 Hawaiian

Very nice!

This is a very very nice coin!

David,
Very nice coin, you made out well on this grade. I've seen badly toned 64s and 65s, a purplish brown, mainly near the rims and much heavier on the reverse. Not sure if it was from the wrappings these coins originally came in, but I was mighty tempted by a 64 a few years back, whose toning made the reverse pop out in 3D even though the strike was relatively soft. That reverse is one of my all time favorite US designs and complements the 1926 Oregon Trail reverse perfectly. I eventually settled on a blast white, sharply struck but relatively baggy 62, the majority of which was confined to the obverse, whereas the reverse looked more like a 64. For me the coin was a good compromise on the grade, since the Cook obverse was not nearly as important as the Kamehameha reverse.
D

David, in my first Red Book I purchased when I was 12, these two coins held my attention even though they were pages apart for their similar reverses that I thought they were the from the same commemorative event!  It gratifies me to know that in the current edition of the Red Book, the two coins are on opposite facing pages reinforcing their similarities, viz, two indigenous people facing one another, the Native either welcoming the Hawaiian in greeting or else telling him to stop, while the Hawaiian has an open welcome. Both are presented full length on the coin, and marvelously realized on the round flat surface, perfectly balanced and executed on such a small scale. And finally the clincher: they were both minted in 1928 in Philadelphia. It is a very sublime but intriguing pairing, when the indigenous folk of America were regarded as exotic curiosities by mainstream Americans. (Neither of them wears anything like clothes, the lingua franca of 1928 being a Charleston flapper outfit!) I can imagine Juliet May taking inspiration for the Hawaiian reverse from the earlier Fraser coin. I love these two coins for the time and place society was at, plus the history they supposedly presented, it is amazing that two small coins can speak volumes of history and sociology to me with scarcely an ounce of silver!

Incidentally, I started on a 50 coin set, but could not get over paying good money for some of the designs even in AU, such as Robinson, Monroe, Sesqui, Maryland, Boone, et. al. So I only bought my favorites, the ones with ships, Civil War, Revolutionary period, and eagles. No Lafayette Dollar either, although your G4 Columbians makes me hanker after a LD in G4, the outline of the two busts should be interesting and as to the horse and rider, I can only imagine -- Wow! The centerpiece of my set is the 37D OTM in 66 and the Hawaiian in 62, both of which I enjoy studying together when the mood hits. I am really pleased to own these historic and well designed coins, and I didn't miss having a complete set of classic commems. Thanks for your input, David, and letting me spout on and on regarding two of my favorite topics, U.S. coins and their background history! Makes having the coins that much more rewarding, doesn't it?

All this talk, David, tsk-tsk, made me go out and look for additional raw Oregon Trail Commems. I am going to try for the 14 coin complete set, and in no hurry to complete. I got a 26-S and 38-D unslabbed at the price of an AU, since I want to enjoy the design without the benefit of plastic, if they grade better than that, it'll be a bonus. Will try to put up some pictures when I get them.