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Sale 69
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Lot 1854
1883 Hawaiian Dollar. NGC graded Proof 62+Cameo CAC Approved. Mostly white with a hint of gold toning near the edges a beautiful cameo two-toned Proof. Only 26 struck. Virtually ice-white devices spread glinting beams of light in every direction, the dies having been carefully made to impart a frosted relief. Proofs of both American coins and Hawaiian coins in the 1880s were struck on the mint's powerful hydraulic press, which gave a unique "squeeze" on the dies. This imparted all of the deepest design from the dies onto the struck planchet. As carefully made as this coin is, it is also covered with mint bloom from the mirror fields to the aforementioned frosted devices, bidders will want to make a special note of the coin's detail. Clockwork precision seen in all areas. A few light hairlines here and there mainly account for the grade; also. if you have never owned a Hawaiian Proof, purchase of this silver dollar will be a luxurious indulgence. Pop 1; 2 finer, 1 in 63, 1 in 65+.
Note: on the reverse of the Silver Dollar only occurs the entire Hawaiian Coat of Arms with a shield on a mantle of ermine (?) and all the royal heraldry within and around. In the upper left and lower right quadrants of the main shield there are two objects that look like a child's helium-filled balloon on a rod. These are tabu-sticks, or Puloulou sticks to use the proper Hawaiian word. (Pronounced Poo-low-oo-low-oo.) Readers may find this description from 129 years ago helpful (from the American Journal of Numismatics, October 1883, piece):
…a " puloulou," or tabu stick, proper. This stick was a long rod, with a ball of "tapa" cloth at its top the white native cloth, prepared from bark. In former days, this staff with the cloth attached, and carried by one of the king's retainers, or by the followers of a high chief, had a peculiar significance. When the "puloulou " was left at the door of a native house it indicated that royalty was within, and it was death to enter, or pass it. When displayed at the four corners of a field, it signified that the land enclosed was appropriated by the chief who had placed them, and the same penalty followed any trespass. On the arms it alludes to the sanctity or inviolability of the government of the kingdom.
[ed. In those idyllic pre-Cook days, if a commoner even stepped on the shadow of a Royal elite, the sentence was death, usually by strangulation with a rope as depicted in some of the late 18th century prints from copper-plate etchings.].
Estimated Value $18,000 - 20,000.
The Forsythe Collection. Possibly Ex Edwards H. Metcalf Collection Feb 1976 Lot 1212 Superior Auction; Ron Russell; Goldbergs "The 9/09 Hawaii Collection"; present owner.
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