1880 Hawaiian Plantation Token - Wailuku, Half Rial

Coin Details

Auction Record

$12,338 XF40 01-08-2014 Heritage Auctions

Description

The 1880 Wailuku Sugar Company half-real token represents the continuation of the plantation's token-based economy nearly a decade after the initial 1871 starfish issues. By 1880, Wailuku Plantation had grown significantly under the management of C. Brewer and Company, expanding its cultivated acreage and importing increasing numbers of contract laborers, particularly from Portugal, Japan, and China, under the Hawaiian Kingdom's Masters and Servants Act. The half-real denomination of 6.25 cents persisted from the earlier series, maintaining the Spanish real standard even as American monetary conventions increasingly dominated Hawaiian commerce. At 20mm in diameter, this small token was suited to minor daily transactions at the plantation store, where workers purchased tobacco, rice, salt fish, poi, and other provisions. The 1880 issue featured a simplified design compared to the earlier starfish motifs, though the same basic function remained: binding workers to the plantation economy by paying wages partly or wholly in scrip redeemable only at the company store. This practice, while legal under Hawaiian law, was controversial even in the 1880s and drew criticism from labor advocates who documented conditions on the sugar estates.

Rarity Notes

Rare. The 1880 half-real Wailuku token is scarcer than the 1871 issues. Very few examples have been certified by PCGS or NGC.

Cross References

PCGS #600509; Medcalf-Russell Hawaiian Money; Rulau-Fuld Hawaii listings