hi. i went to my grandmals house wendsday and she showed me a 1935A Hawaii $1 bill. it looked like a normal american $1 bill but it had Hawaii stamped on the back and on the left and right on the front. that was the first time i have ever seen one. i was just wondering how much something like that would be worth. my dad said back before 1959 hawaii was not part of the united states. so the united states printed money for hawaii but stamped hawaii on the front and back. has anyone seen one of those before? you can tell it was stamped by a machine because it is in big bold perfect letters. my grandpal got it at his gas station he owned back in 40's when someone have it to him for gas money. he kept it and put a regular 1940's dollar in it's place. they are probaly rare because i have never seen, heard or talked about one. my grandmal said it is probaly rare because thay probaly did'nt make a whole lot of them. i was just wondering if anybody knew the value or anything about it. any information will be appreciated. this is the first time i've seen one so its all new to me. thanks
Actually Hawaii was a possesion of the US for many years before it obtained Statehood, and for most of that time ordinary US currency was used. In 1942, when the possibility of a WW II Japanese invasion of Hawaii was considered a serious threat, the word "HAWAII" in large black letters was overprinted on currency circulating there. The idea was that if the Japanese did successfully invade, the overprinted bills could be demonetized to prevent the Japanese from gathering it up and using it internationally. At the time the 1935 series was in use, so that is what was overprinted. As an additional security feature, the seals and serial numbers were printed in brown. I don't collect currency, so I have no opinion on whether the prices at this website are reasonable.
The Hawaii notes have been pretty hot on ebay lately. The value of the note will depend heavily on the condition. Does the not look very well circulated (many folds, corner tears, stains, etc.)? Or is it crisp and have its original color? If you have any pictures you could post here it would help us determine the consition.
Also on the subject, special notes with yellow/gold seals were used in North Africa and Europe for the same reason during WWII. Seemingly a tradition at the time in the pacific or north africa was for buddies to all sign a note and send it home for the family to see. Some had drawings or cartoons also, all of which led to collecting similar to hobo nickels. One collecting category is such bills with special autographs such as famous warriors that later became politicians, industrialists, or other celebrities. They realize high prices in comparison.
As a followup, on ebay you can look in the category Coins & Paper Money > Paper Money: US > Small Size Notes > Hawaii, North Africa and see both types.
Hawaii notes were also issued as pay to American forces throughout the Pacific theatre. They and the North Africa notes can rightly be considered the first MPCs.
