Hawaii Total Eclipse Proof Commemorative Silver

I have seen a total eclipse of the sun, and I'll tell you, it's weird! This occasion was near the N.S.W. / Victorian border in the mid 1980's. I remember reading about a prediction of the event as a kid, and kept it in the back of my memory.

International astronomers had gathered in the Victorian highlands along the eclipse path, where they saw nothing because of clouds! We were nearby in the eclipse path, out in open hilly countryside with dairy farms in the vicinity, where it was sunny.

As we all know, you cannot look directly at the sun, but we could open a car door, and look at the reflection in the glass. At the time of full eclipse, the sun's light was completely blocked, and so the level of reflected light from the window of the car door was perfectly safe to look at. During total eclipse, it was quite dim. We saw the whole thing, just as you would see in the published pictures.

It was weird. The countryside went to a dusk lighting level, the birds took flight to roost, the cattle started moo-ing, and roosters in the distance crowed. This went on for a couple of minutes, before slowly returning to normal. All of this happened at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

You don't forget these type of 'one off' events in your lifetime!

Late reply here. Bishop Museum contracted The Honolulu Mint to design/strike those silver rounds for them. The rounds are 0.999 fine silver, ave a diameter of 39.2 mm, and weighs 1 troy oz. There are considered silver rounds. However, they are very collectible for the Hawaii specialist (premium above spot silver). They were issued with a COA. The same design elements are also used in a smaller gold version.