Lot 2022
1847 Hawaiian Cent. Medcalf 2CC-2. Crosslet 4, 15 berries. PCGS graded MS-63 Red & Brown. Normal dark areas due to water damage to the ship's borders which flooded the keg below containing the Hawaiian cents shipped to Hawaii. The development of large sugar plantations and the adoption of a Western style economy beginning about the 1820s created a demand for coined money in Hawaii. At first, this money consisted of cardboard scrip and tokens as well as coins carried in from a variety of countries having interests in the islands. This source proved unreliable, and coins were in chronically short supply. As frustration grew, King Kamehameha III (1825-54) set out to rectify this shortage by including a provision for a Hawaiian monetary system in his new legal code of 1846. This system provided for a unit known as the dala, which was based on the American dollar. The dala was divided into 100 keneta, or cents. Several denominations of fractional silver coins were included in this system, as well as a copper 1847 piece (the only one to be struck under his reign) to be valued at one keneta. Pop 61; 24 finer, 2 in 63+, 20 in 64, 1 in 64+, 1 in 65. (PCGS # 10966) Estimated Value $1,300 - 1,500
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| Realized $1,438 |
