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10 Dollars Gold Certificate of Deposit
| Issuer | Department of Finance, Republic of Hawaii |
|---|---|
| Year | 1895 |
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| In circulation to | 1898 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GOLD CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT UMI DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE REPUBLIC OF HAWAII THIS CERTIFIES, THAT THERE HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED AT THE HAWAIIAN TREASURY TEN DOLLARS IN GOLD COIN PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND 10 ISSUE OF 1895 - ACT № 19 |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in yellow-gold on paper, the reverse is dominated by a large central guilloche medallion bearing the seal of the Republic of Hawaii with the motto 'UA MAU KE EA O KA AINA I KA PONO' and the Roman numeral date 'MDCCCXCIV'. Two symmetrical guilloche rosette panels bearing the numeral '10' flank the central medallion. The legend 'HAWAIIAN TREASURY' runs across the top and 'CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT' is inscribed along the bottom border. |
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| Comments |
Hawaii's Gold Certificates of Deposit were not ordinary circulating currency — they were warehouse receipts against gold coin held by the Treasury, a system the Republic adopted to prevent gold from draining off the islands through export while still giving merchants a portable, trusted instrument. The 1895 series was printed by American Bank Note Company under the brief administration of the Republic, which had only displaced the Provisional Government two years earlier following the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani.
Fewer than five years after this note was printed, Hawaiian currency ceased to exist entirely — U.S. annexation in 1898 and formal territorial status in 1900 extinguished the Republic's monetary authority, and outstanding certificates were redeemed in U.S. coin. Survivors are scarce precisely because redemption was efficient.