1891 Hawaiian Plantation Token - Kahului, 10 Cents

Coin Details

Description

The Kahului Railroad Company 1891 token in its base denomination represents the most extensive and well-known series of Hawaiian plantation tokens. The Kahului Railroad Company, established in 1879, operated both a railroad connecting Maui's sugar plantations to the port at Kahului and a large general store that served as the commercial center for central Maui's plantation communities. The company's tokens were produced in a comprehensive set of unusual fractional denominations designed to accommodate the pricing structure of the plantation store. Unlike earlier plantation tokens that used the Spanish real system, the Kahului series employed odd-cent denominations including 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, and 75 cents that appear to have been calibrated to specific commodity prices at the store. The tokens were struck in a uniform 27mm diameter across all denominations, differentiated by their inscribed values. The 1891 date coincides with the final year of King Kalakaua's reign and a period of intense labor unrest on Hawaiian sugar plantations, as Japanese workers organized some of the earliest plantation strikes. The Kahului tokens circulated well into the 1890s and beyond, serving workers of multiple ethnicities in central Maui's diverse plantation communities.

Rarity Notes

Scarce. As the base denomination in the Kahului series, this is among the more available issues but still challenging to find in better grades.

Cross References

PCGS #600527; NGC #14706; Medcalf-Russell Hawaiian Money; Rulau-Fuld Hawaii listings