Hawaii Notes

History on these World War II Emergency Currency Issue Hawaii Notes:

During World War II the United States issued special currency to the island of Hawaii.  The Hawaii Notes were offered in 4 denominations: One Dollar, Five Dollar, Ten Dollar, and Twenty Dollar.  The One Dollar Bills are Silver Certificates and were issued in 1935 (Series 1935A). The other denominations are Federal Reserve Notes and were issued in 1934 (Series 1934 $5 & $20 and Series 1934A $5,$10, & $20).  The Hawaii Notes feature a brown seal (not blue) and are overprinted with "HAWAII" on both sides; on the obverse to the right of the Treasury Seal and the left of the legal tender mark, on the reverse along the center of the bill.  These Hawaii Notes were all issued form the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

These Hawaii Notes were issued after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Military officials believed that in the event of an invasion on Hawaii, Japanese forces could seize a large amount of US currency.  To avoid this scenario Military Governor Delos Carleton Emmons issued an order to recall most regular US paper currency from the islands of Hawaii (there were set caps on how much regular currency individuals ($200) and businesses ($500) could keep).  Regular US currency was replaced with the overprinted Hawaii Notes.  If an invasion did occur, the US Government could immediately declare the Hawaii Notes worthless.  An interesting fact is that military officials decided to destroy (bills were burned) the $200 million in recalled US currency to avoid the logistics of shipping it back to the mainland.