Hawaiian Mint 1975 early strike with "welt"

jmm2562

Hello Fellow Collectors!

I rediscovered this coin in my collection from the Hawaiian Mint. After doing some initial research, it appears to be one of the first struck sterling silver coins at the Hawaiian Mint. It has the "Welt" error, a hand stamped "STERLING" but no "AG" stamp. It has Kamehameha on the front and the EARTH design on the reverse.

I cannot find another example with this combination of artifacts. Are there any Hawaiian Mint experts in the house? I'd love to learn more about the origin of this coin. See photos of the coin and the original packaging and COA.

Thanks,

Jim (jmm2562)

TomB

The only thing I can state off-hand is that it isn't a coin, but instead is a token or medal. I realize the paper insert states it is a coin, but it has no monetary value and was not issued by a government with the authority to strike monetary coinage. This looks very much like many of the tokens and medals that I recall seeing back in this time period and my guess is that you are likely to find fragments of information on the web, but probably not an official history of the private company that struck these.

DrDarryl

https://youtube.com/watch?v=jAjVMuX15Zk

The Hawaiian Mint later became the Royal Hawaiian Mint (mintmaster: Bernard von NotHaus)

The reverse (shelter design) was later adopted on the 1998 NORFED liberty dollar https://thehawaiiananumismatist.com/2014/06/20/1998-norfed-silver-liberty-first-issue/

jmm2562

The 1975 depicted here is the exact token I have...

https://thehawaiiananumismatist.com/2014/06/20/1998-norfed-silver-liberty-first-issue

I'm not able to find another such example. The insert says it's the first of a three coin set released in 1976. The first coin, the one I have, was released in 1975. It might be one of the first coins ever struck at the Hawaiian Mint. I would love to learn more about the number of such coins minted and it's rarity. Would love to solve the mystery!

JBK

As previously stated, it's not a "coin".

In any case, why not try to track down Bernard von Nothaus (I think he lives in Florida) and ask him?

Goldminers

Note the first several of this style from the Hawaiian Mint were actually minted in Tucson. Around 29 copper variations, and 6 in sterling did have the AG in the center punch. There were also 3 gold in that 21mm size. Those all had the Ahualoa land bank reverse, except for 4 in copper had the EARTH rev. These were minted Sept 13, 1975.

The first of these medals that were minted in Hawaii were done at 9:30 AM Nov 7, 1975. 5 sterling silvers with the flawed die with "welt" Type 1 by Bernard with Abe Chong at Precision Industries. 21mm sterling. Note: Those first 5 may have had the Ahualoa Land Bank reverse, could not confirm. The medals were again struck on Nov 8th with 29 mintage and 1-9 were numbered. That same day 29 were minted with the EARTH reverse, and 1-9 were also numbered. Yours might be one of that batch. Another 19 were minted Nov 8th that had a blank reverse. All of the above were sterling, but 9 were done in 14kt gold, but only the first 2 were kept and the others melted.

Several hundred more were struck in 1976. Some were gold 18kt, many more in silver and copper.

If you have documentation that is from 1975 it is one of the scarcer varieties.