Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 2/27/2010

Question
I have two of the above bills and wonder if they are worth anything in todays market. They have no tears although the paper has darkened with age. Thank you for any help.

Answer
The dollars printed with "Hawaii" on them are indeed worth something.  It all depends though on condition.  You'll have to have the notes looked at by someone with knowledge to know what condition they are in.  If you go to www.ebay.com and do a couple searches like "Hawaii dollar" or "1935A silver Certificate Hawaii" you should see some for sale and that could give you an idea of price.  Keep in mind that the different series will have different values and that a star note (a star in with the serial no.) is worth more.  

Do you know the story of the Hawaii stamped notes?  After Pearl Harbor, there was real fear of a Japanese invasion of the islands, perhaps even successful.  In that event, the U.S. did not want its notes to fall into the hands of the Japanese to be used against it in the war.  Thus the imprinting of "Hawaii" on the notes -- if Japan successfully invaded, they could be demonitized.  It never happened, of course, Jim