I was at my local coin shop looking for ancient or medieval coins when I spotted an unusual coin.It turned out to be a Hawaiian 1/4 dollar from 1883,apparently the only year they were made.I never knew any such thing existed.I just read that it was designed by Charles Barber.They sell for a lot of money and except for one "small detail" I would have paid over $150-200 for it.As it is,I got it for $25.Here it is. (continued in next post)
Now you might ask,how did I get such a deal? Well,the obverse has been deliberately defaced and the coin shop owner told me it was done officially after the coin was demonetized.I looked it up and can't find anything about this.There were about 500,000 minted and half were melted.Does anyone know any more about this poor coin?
Since coinfacts.com doesn't mention anything about them being 'officially' defaced, I'd be very leery of what the dealer said, although I don't know otherwise....I would think that they would have been melted along with the rest, especially being silver, which was real money back then. IMO
I saw one sell in Honolulu at an auction about a month ago for $450 if i remember right. In much better condition I think it was AU-55 or around there.
I don't think you will either. You've heard of fish stories - well that sounds like a coin story to me
I've heard the tale about it being de-faced...but so far I can only say I've heard it and so far it sounds like a tale Speedy
I have never heard of them being officially defaced, but something to consider, an awful lot of Hawaiian coins were made into jewellery late in the 19th century or in the early part of the 20th century. I have seen whole bracelets made out of the quarter dalas.
They were officially recalled by the US and presumably melted, but why deface them them first? I think the jewelry explanation is better. I have a dime and quarter - paid well under $25 each some years ago. I would like to get the half and dollar to go along, but one (I forget which) is really exepnsive. They are great coins, though.
